The Lion Queen
by Snow White The Brave
Summary: Solitude in the African Jungles was enough for shapeshifting Amazon Xyta Albrooke to hate mankind and swear to protect the world she learned to love. But now, she is petitioned to join Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and is destined for more than she realizes. Xyta must control her power to save what she loves, lest the demons of her past and future take over. M FOR SMUT AND LANGUAGE.
1. Beast in the Rounds

**Hello my lovelies! Here is my first Avengers fiction. More likely to come~ Since the description limit is a bitch, here is a longer, more descriptive summary. Enjoy the story! **

_After 12 years of solitude in the Congo, animal-transforming shapeshifter Xyta Albrooke protects her beautiful home with vigorous power. Harboring a burning hatred towards humankind, the Amazon finds a twist in her destiny as she is petitioned to join the Avengers team, finding things she'd never thought she'd find. Everything changes when she meets fearless leader Captain Steve Rogers, and her home is threatened by a force bigger than them. Can Xyta learn to fall in love and channel her powers to protect the things she values the most? Or will the demons of her past be the demise of everything they know…?_

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The forests of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Hundreds of feet below an armored helicopter, lies a green world. A word so lush, that the animal can smell the drop of water running off a sap filled leaf, all the way from up here. The flavor of hot mist lingers on his tongue, and the easy rustle of trickling water fills his ears. The forest is alive, and so is he. The ball in his throat moves, and a small vein, in his grizzly arm, pops. He sucks in the air again as his nostrils twitch.

"You pick up anything?"

Fury sits across from this animal, hands folded. Unlike Fury and the agent piloting the helicopter, this beast is not one with words. Beaded eyes, sharp teeth and a blunted nose; features that rest on top of a stocky build with stubby arms and legs. This animal...or Logan, is sharing space, on the chopper, with Fury, who briefs him on his task.

"Logan, remember: what you need to do is find her and bring her to me. I'll handle the rest"

"You sure you ain't jus' scared a' steppin' back out in deh ol' marshlands wit' me?" Logan pulls back his mask to take a puff of his fat cigar. The dampness of the air had already made him sweat and drip inside of his bright yellow spandex. He can even smell his own musk seeping out the small breathing pores of his suit. Salt, musk and tobacco; Logan's scent is raw, and he's got nothing to blame but his own anticipation, a feeling that makes him swell and stretch out his suit. If he has to wait any longer, he might have to do his mission, naked, dressed only in body hair and hard muscle.

"Yer killin' me. Hurry it up an' gimme the word so I can relieve myself!" Logan's voice is low, gruff, like a razor-sharp edge running through thick, wet skin.

"This is just like you, Logan. Don't lose focus. From what I gathered, this woman is dangerous-good enough for the team. I don't want you hurting her, and...I don't want her hurting you" Fury looks at him with a straight face.

"I love yer pep talk. I really do. Drop me down already!"

With that, the chopper starts to dip into the green trees. Nick had sure picked a spot to float while he briefed him the mission. From this vantage point, the jungle sits on a massive ocean, while dressed in thick mist and a rainbow that stretches out like a parabola over its head. This place is truly a lost world, forgotten by humans. That can be the only reason why such a place can look so beautiful. Logan waits until the chopper is just a cannonball's height for him to leap from, and when he lands, his foot sinks into the soft, rich brown dirt as his senses gets plunged into the wet, fresh smell of vegetation. The landing's impact also forces a small tear in his suit's thigh area, just slivers away from his bulge. From the tear, his musk thinly travels out and into the air.

"Wahoo!" "Hoo-hoo!" The sound of baboons coming from everywhere and nowhere. Most of the jungle is roofed off from the sky by trees, leaving only small opendings, where beams of sunlight shines down. This woman. All he has is a scent on her, but once he finds her, he's going beat her down and drag her body gack to Fury! When it come's to The Hunt, he's the best there is at what he does! Logan sniffs once, twice, before leaping up a tree and bounding off into the shadows!

Once the faint sounds of the helicopter had been heard several miles away, the Queen of the Jungle had been on the case. She has poised in the grandest tree in the forest, watching at vigil for the flying vehicle. When it had come soaring in, she had hidden, blending into her environment as the helicopter had circled around the island a few times.

_Damn it_, the woman had thought. She was sure this island had been forgotten as she could continue to live in peace with her friends, the creatures of the jungle, and stay in her place as the Guardian. But obviously, mankind had returned, looking for something.

She watched a figure in a bright yellow suit drop from the helicopter, and a whiff of his scent carried on the wind and into her nose. Man-beast. This man had been sent to sniff her out! This man was a mutant, much like her, only instead of being born with her powers, they had been given to her when she was only 11, after she had been abandoned here, in this jungle.

This man was sent to sniff out a human woman, but a human woman he would not get! He was sent into the heart of the woods, and so she'd follow him, see what he could find. Shifting into a simple sparrow, she flew after him! She found the man beginning in the center of the jungle, his scent very masculine and very musky. Much like most of the male mammals when they were ready to breed. The thought made the woman wrinkle her beak in disgust.

She kept her distance from him, so her scent wouldn't catch on, even here while she was in animal form. Once he was far enough away, she shifted from a sparrow to a sleek black panther with glowing blue eyes. That was one thing that the woman kept when she shifted. Her eye color. Her eyes were an unmistakable ice-blue, bright and piercing. With every form she took, her blue eyes stayed with her.

His scent kept getting stronger, and she wondered what was making him so bothered… She stalked him for several minutes, hiding in the trees and brush, unbeknownst to him as the Warrioress stalked her prey. Let him not find what he seeks and leave. But if needs be, she would kill him… this woman lived by one rule: kill what can kill you. It was the commandment of the jungle if you even wanted to dream of surviving here. This man with the musky scent and hairy body would discover that soon enough….

"~What do think of this one, Colonel?~" The pilot's face mask turns around and looks at Fury, whos reflection plays on the pilot's dark visors.

"What do I think? I'm starting to think I should've sent someone else down there to get her. Then again, who's better at Logan when it comes to his...senses"

It sounds like a rhetorical question, but in truth, Fury is just convincing himself. He looks out below, where Logan had leaped off, shakes his head and takes another drag of his cigar.

"You know I've been trying to quit, right?" Fury laughs. His lips are thick and blackened from years of killing himself. The pilot breathes heavily through his mask: "~You've been listening to Steve too much. The guy needs to relax. That's why he's always such a perfectionist. Wrecks my nerves. Hate that guy~"

The pilot's voice is husky and laced with heavy breathing noises through his mask. Underneath the huff and puffs, his tone is almost ghoulish. His face is also hidden. Actually, too well hidden. Nobody has ever been sure if there's a real human being behind all of that. All that is known about the pilot is that he's been around long enough to share WWII stories with Fury. That also means he has the most extensive collection of Playboy magazines in the world. Needless to say, he's been around for a long, long time.

"~What if the brute ends up doing the mating dance with our jungle amazon?~"

The pilot asks. Fury just looks at him. "You should know once Logan hunts for what he wants, he's almost like a possessed...crazed.."

"Freak?~" The pilot interjects with his snide remark.

"You just running your mouth 'cause Logan ain't here. Doesn't matter. I have faith in him."

And faith Fury will have.

Meawhile...

The bushes rustle, a faint wind blows the grass; all these little things are signs that Logan had been there just a second ago. A draft cuts through the trees, leaving the only proof of him being there, a single leaf twirling and falling into a pond. The long faced baboons know of what they don't see. They know he's here, but where? Suddenly, the fleshy the mass of salt and hair, wrapped in bright yellow, flops into a bed of grass and dirt, out in the open. This is where The Hunt stops, because...

...from over his shoulder, Logan looks behind him, sniffs once more and spins around! His beaded, moonlight white eyes match the iceberg cold hues of a panther, but this panther doesn't smell like a one! It's the same scent he had picked up once he fell from the chopper. This lady isn't fooling anyone, though, from the looks of her, she wants to play silly animal games. Logan's here to take back a woman. That's his job-nothing less. Otherwise, he would've brought a box filled with holes if he wanted to catch a kitten! He had to admit that a good part of him cooled down and died just from seeing her like this. The Hunt so far has been like fishing for Mermaid and ending up with a Salmon.

"It don' matta what yeh look like as long as yeh still got that smell! Quit playin' 'round fo' I lose my gusto from lookin' ach-yeh!"

The panther snarled at him, baring long, sharp fangs before hopping from the trees into the thick brush. She had to give this man credit, he could sniff out really well, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight. The brush began to rustle closer and closer towards him, until the brush made an opening into the clearing!

Only, instead of a sleek black cat, out came one of the most beautiful human women on the earth, a tall, hourglass shaped female with toned arms, legs, and backside. She wore a torn white safari shirt that ended just below her breasts and draped off one shoulder, and butt-hugging black spandex shorts you'd see on a volleyball court, not in a jungle. Her long, shiny and luscious brown hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, reaching just below her rump. A leopard skin strip was tied around her forehead, and she wore no shoes.

Her lips were a lustful red color, glossy with health. Her skin was fair and lightly tanned, a bit unlike most Amazonian women, but she was just as buxom and muscular in form. Her eyes glared at the beast-man… those same icy globes that pierced any soul who looked into them, and right now, they were bearing into his white ones. She walked out in front of him, stancing in such a way to prepare herself should he try to attack.

Her lips curled back into a snarl, her canines abnormally longer than average and her teeth whiter than the clouds. She examined the man all over, smelling his aroused musk and raising a brow at the tear in his thigh, before meeting his white eyes again, delving into her fellow beast's mind, her well-developed instincts sensing that he was here to cause harm, and so she would defend herself and her home.

"None pass through these trees and live to tell the tale, fellow beast. Tell me, why do you trespass?" she growled, her human nails growing into looking like a little more like a cat's claws, while still keeping that feminine beauty to them.

There she is.

The one who makes his pits drench in warm, wet salt. Every part of him boils hot, from the molten blood running through his grizzly, burly arms, the burn in his eyes, and the puff of warm air and tobacco from his lungs. Something hard and erect slowly slithers from his hands, among other places. Her breasts, stomach, legs-all of her most plumpest parts are begging to get shredded through. In his mind, her body shouts out to him, yearning to get tamed and ruled over. Words? Don't need'em. All they do is lie. Nothing is more true than what his body is saying.

"Why I'm trespassin'? How's this fo' a' reason?"

Snikt!

Just like his perked ears, his twitching nose and the trunk shape between his legs, his claws stand at the ready. His body becomes one with the Earth, itself, sucking in everything: her soft skin, raw, flowery smells, and the daring tone in her voice. She isn't afraid. He likes that. No fun in hunting an animal who won't fight back! But even the biggest creatures cower up as soon as they get cornered. He could smell it in the air: someone's gonna start screaming in pain. And it isn't him!

Can she hear it?

The crying baboons, the hissing insects and slithering bodies wrapped around the tree branches above. It's almost as if nature itself knows what is going to happen! This is the music of heated rapture.

"I ain't the yappin' type! Let's dance!"

The blue, clear glow from the pond, the rich jade and the golden sun dances on his glossy talons. Logan scrapes them together like he's sharpening knives and suddenly makes a tiger leap for the woman! His hands are stretched out, looking to take her to the ground!

All that he would get before he could even consider touching her as he jump was an evil smirk as her nails became claws just like his, only instead of adamantine injections, they were pure tiger claws that were long and incredibly sharp. Time slowed as he left his torso completely open.

The woman opened her mouth and with her fangs sparkling in the sun, she roared! Roared like a lion of God as the forced wind escaping her throat blew him back into a tree. She wasted no time in dashing for him, her claws open and teeth bared. She hardened her skin to that of a turtle's shell, as she leapt in to snatch the offender's throat, lift him into the air, and slam him back against the tree with her hand and claws still wrapped around his neck.

"Who the hell are you?!" she screamed into his face, her sharp teeth only centimeters from him as she pressed her body against his, where there was no escape for him. She could feel something hard beneath his spandex rise her abdomen, and she knew by his smell that he was aroused.

Well, perhaps she would use that against him before she tore him to pieces! It's been far too long since she's had a good battle, all of the forest's fiercest predators afraid to come near her. Once you pissed off this jungle woman, your death was certain.

When he didn't answer right away, she sunk her teeth into his shoulder, drawing blood from it as she tore out a huge chunk of the material and skin! But what she didn't expect was when the skin of the man began to heal itself right away!

"Mutant," she growled, spitting out the skin and muscle she had torn from him, before slamming his head back into the tree. "One more chance, beast-man! Who are you and why are you here?!"

Kloom! Logan's spine hits an old, thick tree, shaking out falling leaves and debris from its branches! Gusts of oxygen leave his chest, along with some of his pent up excitement. He wanted a piece of her, but instead gets gusted off like a bird trapped in a storm! Talk about a mood killer. No body contact...

It's then her clawed grip nails him to the tree by his neck! "Gugh!" Veins spread out and pop from underneath her choking hand. The trees, her skin and the deep valley in her neckline blur in his eyes. When she opens her maw and showers him with her question, it made him feel like being interrogated by a large beast! Still, asking questions, is she? This is getting old-fast. Just when his bulge starts to fade, her teeth sinks into his shoulder! When she draws her head back, a loud tearing noise fills his head, and a blood churning shout shakes the trees!

Logan watches a piece of his own flesh fall to the grass. That's his skin...his muscle...a part of him! His blood runs down her glossed lips and trails down her skin, falling into her cleavage. Logan stays pinned to the tree, replaying everything in his head: that same pair of soft lips had opened wide, took as much of his big, round muscle that her mouth could, closed, then pulled out a chunk of him! Thin lines of blood, her brown, waving hair, then the soft patter of his meat falling to the grass; this all played in his head in slow motion.

Just as quick as she torn a piece of him, his shoulder had already started to heal. Right there, from the sound of disdain on her tongue, she already knows what he is. Pearly white canines show in his smile.

"Yeh were expectin' somethin' else?"

Logan chucks a simple question at her to take her mind off what he's about to do next. Swiftly, Logan lifts up his legs and wraps them around her neck! His smooth, hard, popping curves of muscle scissor her and holds her still, just so he can look at the change in her expression from such a sudden move! The tear in his yellow pants stretch just a little wider, letting more of his bitter salt waff against her face. Let's just hope she'll like the smell!

Meanwhile, both of his bigger, bulkier hands will grab her slender choking arm, and he'll twist his body to the side, bringing them both down to the dirt! Once this happens, Logan will still be scissoring her head, not letting her go!

"Pass out o' smell the roses, kitten!"

Logan snarls, knowing that the only thing thicker than the muscles in his squeezing thighs are the musky, pungent cigarette ash and sweat that seeps from his open tear! Just from being in this position brings some life back in his loins!

When he managed to scissor her head with his legs, she struggled to break free, but he held her in a vice grip! She was thrown to the side as the man tackled her to the ground, his legs still holding her, his musky smell almost overwhelming her powerful nose. She could see the bulge growing back right there in front of her!

"Smell of roses, my ass!" she screamed as she turned her head to her right, biting his leg hard enough to loosen his grip prying herself free. Keeping a hold on his leg, she flipped over his head, pulling the limb along with her, painfully stretching out the man's leg before releasing it and letting him struggle in pain for a few moments.

"Fine, don't want to answer me?! Guess I'll just have to kill you then before I send you back to your friends!" she growled, standing him back up and giving him a rock-hard punch to the nose! She sparred with him, clawing her claws against his own, kicking him whenever he left an opening, and flipping around to avoid his attacks, although she missed a few times and had to take a slash or a punch or a kick.

Who was this guy and why was he looking for her?! Was it too much to ask to just leave her be in this forgotten jungle?! What use could she possibly be of to the world?! A million thoughts raced through her head as she found herself in a chokehold, using her strong but curvaceous bottom to buck back against the man's erection! She continued to spar with him as soon as she was freed, determined to end his pathetic life… not to mention that strange smell that had her dripping with excitement!

Look at her. Just look at her watching him as she laid there, trapped. Bitter musk lingers out from his suit's breathing holes as his leg muscles twitch into hard steel against her neck! Could she breathe? Could she smell him right now? If she could, then he obviously isn't squeezing hard enough! Once a small hump behind his blue speedos, his bulge slithers to life and curves out, nearly grazing her nose! He would've kept her scissored for as long as he could, just to watch her eyes tear, then flutter shut as she'd fall asleep inside his thighs. It would've been his favorite way to put down an amazonian angel like her! At least she wouldn't have to end up in pieces!

"Smell of roses my ass!"

She spits back! Strange how she reminds him of himself: blunt, crude and straight to the point. Being raised with the predators must've done that to her. He understands the heat that comes from her words, even if they were directed at him!

"Aargh!"

A low sound explodes from his chest! Her red stained teeth takes another bite inside of him! This time, her mouth takes a shred of his pants with her, along with his damp scent on it! What she leaves him is a simple gift of her own: lipstick and a bite mark on his sweat-damped thigh! Just when he manages to get on his hands and knees, then comes the first true blow! Krump! Her bony fist cuts through air and shoves into his face! His nose gets crammed, his lips curl inside, and the impact twists his head to one side!

"Uogh!"

Something hot runs down his face and drips on his lips. Logan swallows down the metallic taste, but then that same blood spurts back up from his mouth when her leg springs into his waist in a deep, impactful whoomp! The grass gets painted in his red, coppery flavor. His vision blurs out once more, but then focuses. This lady hits hard, and what better way to return the favor than showing her his appreciation?

Ssshhink! His claws slice through the heavy, misty air and draw lines of red lava on her stomach! The sound of fleshy pillows being ripped: music to his ears! He wonders what she's thinking now? Why is he here? Can't she just go home and be left alone? Logan knows how she feels. He's been there several times too many. Freedom is such a sweet word, but even freedom feels like hell when you're constantly fighting for your life!

Logan swipes at her again, but instead of hearing skin being torn, his talons whistle in the air! Swiiish! Another failed cut manages to tear her shorts! That's when her scent he had smelled earlier attacks him at full force! Heat injects into his body, sharpening his ears, teeth, and even the swell that's almost being exposed past the tear in his thigh!

A whine mixed with a growl escapes her lips as his sharp claws cut into her stomach. The damage wasn't enough to waver her but it still hurt! She continued to lash back at him, their deadly dance tuned to the beat of the wild.

His scent was stronger than ever, and the warrioress found herself also strangely aroused by it. Were his pheromones so strong that they were plaguing the air? It soon became difficult to think, her instincts wanting to take completely over and put this man in his place in her jungle, that she dominated all...

But in her haze of thoughts, she found a missed slash tear her shorts! They tangled in rips and soon, she completely tore off her bottoms, now only wearing a pair of makeshift leopard print underwear.

By now, his slashes onto her stomach had healed, she utilizing a reptile's ability to quickly regenerate cells and build her skin back up. He wasn't the only one who had freaky skills!

Her arousal had surely seeped into the air by now, and he could smell it! But she tried to gain control over her impulses and keep fighting. But when a particularly long look at the bulge threatening to burst from it's confinements, she lost any control she had left.

In a flurry of attacks. She forced Logan to the ground, straddling him and pinning down his arms in brute force so there was not a quick escape for him. She smashed her breasts down onto his muscular chest, the fleshy mounds pillowing out against it. She deliberately began to grind her near naked groin against his own, intending to punish him for trespassing.

"You'll know your place in this world before you die!" She growled, diving in for his throat, sinking her fangs into his jugular, blood pouring into her mouth and running down his chest and shoulder, spilling into her cleavage.

Flomp! Blades of grass hurl into the air as he lands on his back with her on top. His chest rumbles when he breathes in. From this close, he can swallow her smell, drink her aroma, eat her scent-all while his sharp talons mark red lines on her flesh! Saliva runs down to the tip of his canines and drips from his mouth!

His next words come out in a deep, wet growl.

"Too early fo' me to go, yet, kitten!"

...says the fire inside of his voice. His breaths are slow, hard and hot. He's fighting it, shoving something back inside of him. That feral side of him roars, showing its teeth! Every animal gets into a phase of Heat. For Logan, his own Heat arises with the smell of blood. His blood, her blood, it doesn't matter! All he needs is the sweet taste of hot metal in his mouth to drive him past the edge!

Her breasts melt against his hard, expansive chest. In response, the tiny, thousands of pores in his spandex sweat, wetting her breast flesh, drop by drop. Down here, he can smell the dirt, the grass, her hair and her raw, seething hate for him! She's passionate-on fire! She's open and honest as any threatened animal can be. Logan loves it!

Just as she leans in to bite his neck, Logan's bigger arms tear free! He sucks in what could be his last breath, then...

Sshurglh! It was a wet, twisted sound. The sound of her teeth digging into the thick tubes in his meaty neck! She's choking him with her own mouth, drinking and swallowing his life sap! An unheard roar grumbles within his core. A sudden twinge of pain shows on his face when his teeth clenches. Something inside of him...rises...climbs...and shoots out!

Shhinkt!

Then comes the second penetration: his claws sinking into her ass cheeks like darting needles through a pin cushion! At the same, another hard part of him is envy of his talons, wishing it can probe her in its own way right now! His own heart is giving him the hardest fisting he hadn't felt in a long time! Baddum-baddum-baddum-baddum! Is is because this woman's claws are putting his body through shock? Thanks to their healing factor, both of them are being edged to death without ever crossing! They'll spend their next moments together with his bulge riding her groin while his body is rides that edge between life and death!

Rrriip! The quiet sound of his member tearing at his seams grow louder! Suddenly, his size is halfway free, seeking out a piece of the amazonian! As for his hands, after his claws retract, his hands roughly tear down what's left her of underwear!

At the penetrations on her ass, she screamed in agonizing rage, his claws sending blood down her sides into the grass. She called out into the forest, her voice sending trees falling and leaves blowing into the sky.

She suddenly felt dizzy at her extreme loss of blood. She held herself up against him as much as she could while her body healed itself, but then suddenly felt a piece of his groin spring up against her damp underwear! This man was losing himself as well, and she almost succumbed to him when he yanked her underwear down…

Somehow, miraculously, a wave of self control washed over her and she suddenly yanked herself off of him, pulling away in a flurry of actions while pulling her underwear back up, closing her eyes and turning away from the man who lay in a pool of their blood so she could not see what had touched her only moments ago.

She hugged herself against a tree a few feet away, facing away from him as blood continued to dribble down her legs. She refused to look at the man who she had nearly killed, and he who had almost taken a sacred part of her. She defended her virginity with vigil, regardless of what had just happened, she treating him as such so they would have fallen over the edge together. She didn't even know this man!

"Please… just stop. We're both going to die if we keep fighting," she said in between quick, uneven breaths, still refusing to look back at him, not wanting to see what really lay beneath that spandex.

"Tell me what you came for, and I will try to oblige."

Her ass.

That's all he sees when he lifts his head off the grass. She leaned against a tree, not wanting to look back. How can he blame her?

"Nnnuuh..."

After their smoldering embrace and nearly reaching a boiling point, Logan had been left in cold abandon, bleeding, panting, sweating. All he's left with is the faint smell of her hair and the sight of her rear, standing at a cruel distance away from him. His head drops back to the grass. The song from the jungle's creatures die. Their dance is over. Logan's claws snikt back into his hands, but one part of him is still hard and erect, reliving their battle. His member throbs, still in a fight that had already ended, and when in the midst of cold, empty contact, it drools...then dies-just like Logan's heat.

He needs to piece himself back together. Whatever that he needs to say just isn't there to utter. Time...he needs time.

"Die? I think one o' us already did..."

His sawblade sharp voice is heated with a pain of loss, frustration, and somewhere in deep, there's regret. Logan gets up and leans against a tree as well. Fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds is all he needed before his wounds close. The 'damange' in his crotch, however, is permanent. No time for that, though.

"Yer comin' wit' me" He manages to pronounce in between pants. He doesn't get to finish, though. Not that he needs to. Fury had already showed up from the bushes, smoking his cigar.

"Logan, take five. Good work" The colonel nods at Logan and walks towards the woman, still keeping his distance. Anyone who can hold a candle to Wolverine is someone he should tread carefully around. The both of them look banged up. It's a good thing he came after the fire and not during. All he had to do was wait and listen out for their cries and grunts to stop.

She had almost lashed out again and was ready to finish him off when another man appeared from the bushes. "Logan, take five. Good work!" he said. So, Logan had been his name…

The man, a huge burly dark-skinned man with an eyepatch over his left eye wearing a black trenchcoat and holding a cigar, walked over to her and introduced himself as Colonel Nick Fury, director of… whatever it was. The Warrioress kept her distance and kept her fierce demeanor up, regardless of how tired and worn out she really was.

"Name's Colonel Fury, director and agent of the Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-enforcement Division. You haven't heard of us. But we heard of you"

This is the part where the woman looks at him all funny, asking questions-questions he already has answers to.

"We're looking to put to expand our team of brave men and women. We've seen what you can do. You've defended this jungle for years, from trespassers, crooks, weapon smugglers, all of them. We can use someone with an eye and heart like yours. You love this island. I know you do. We all know you do. But this jungle is in danger. It's about to be attacked. All of its animals, plants...everything, is in great risk..."

Fury stops himself so he can give the woman time to soak this all in.

But she could tell by this man's scent that he didn't mean harm, and so did her best to hear him out. He spoke of looking for brave men and women to fight on a team called the Avengers. She had heard whisperings of them, on the twitters of the birds and the conversation of the few humans who ventured here to her island in search of treasure, land, anything.

Then he spoke of a threat coming to the jungle, and how they needed someone like her on the team. He stood there silently for a moment and smoked his cigar, and soon the young woman found herself thinking over many many things, hesitant to join any "team" and leave her forest behind, and having a tiny sliver of desire to return to civilized life and see how things had changed.

"What makes you certain I can trust you or your team? How can you guarantee the safety of my jungle if I must leave it behind?" she asked stoutly, wanting to know she could leave behind her friends and forestry and know it would stay untouched, and she could return to civilized life and perhaps start a new life as a heroine of mankind, which she still held a huge grudge against for abandoning her all those years ago.

Fury knew she'd ask these questions next. They were good questions. Why should she trust him? Especially since he sent Logan to attack her? He knew he should've got someone else to find her. But if he did get anyone else, who's to say how long they'd survive? She'd hunt them down-that's for sure. Leaving her land is a big proposition. Her concern was expected. And he would bet that if he had sent his agents to look for her, asking her to leave her land behind, they'd end up dead. That's where Logan came in: not only that he can easily sniff her out, but he can at least survive long enough so maybe Fury, himself, can reason with her.

Was it a good plan? Well, it was worth a shot.

"Sorreh to cut in, but if she can handle o' bunch o' thugs who attacked the island, she'd be able to handle whatever threat's comin' all by herself!"

Wolverine leans against the tree, not looking at anything in particular. His voice hasn't even cooled down since the fight. It sounds like something is bugging him. He won't say anything more though. He'll just let Fury say whatever he has to:

She had snarled at Logan when he made his remark. Naturally, he wouldn't want her around. It was true what he said, though, about her being able to fight off groups of thugs no problem. But when Fury explained how it was an enemy group of hundreds, possibly thousands of people intending to tear apart her island and make it a military base, she reconsidered.

"The threat isn't any average threat. It's big. A group of people are trying to seize this island and use it as base against us. We figured we could use your knowledge and team up. You don't have to join us. We just need your hand"

Fury tries to placate his sudden request the best way he can. Foreign relations had never been a strong point with Fury. Communicating with her is going to be hard.

"Even if you don't know us, you need to know that you won't be able to save this land on your own. Come with us and you'll know everything"

As if Fury already knows what her answer will be next, the chopper descends behind him. Wuppa-wuppa-wuppa-wuppa! Its propeller's spin and blows wind through his black leather, picking up grass and dirt as well.

She folded her arms as he restated his question, asking her for her help on the knowledge of the island to help protect it from enemy possession. Of course, she wanted to keep her home safe and keep it unknown. Her only option was to go with these men to wherever they were headed, and help them protect their island.

She'd consider joining them later. But for now, this was about protecting what she loved, capable as she may be, she couldn't fight off an entire corporation alone. They'd have weapons beyond her control. Her only choice was to take Fury's offer.

Fitting in wasn't going to be easy. She hadn't lived in populated areas for over a decade. She worried about losing her temper and getting someone hurt, or embarrassing herself because she had grown so used to not behaving or acting by human standard. But she had to try... To save what she held most dear.

"If all you ve told me is true..." She said softly, averting her gaze from Fury as she thought some last things over, having to block her personal walls so she wouldn't get hurt, working alone so she wouldn't hurt or inconvenience anyone on the team, and trying to fit into society so she wasn't a fish out of water; even if that meant wearing more clothes and not shifting to travel places, but walking on two legs instead of four. Yes, she d at least try.

"...then I accept."


	2. A Whole New World

So it's settled then.

The chopper ride was a long one. Moving from Africa to the United States meant plenty of stops in between. If the team wasn't refilling tanks and eating, the ride itself was pleasant, thanks to their pilot, the ghoulishly odd one. Even through his mask, he could smell the hot musk that radiated off Logan and the woman's bodies as soon as they boarded the chopper. He doesn't say a word. He already knows Logan, well enough to assume that things had gotten messy, as they always do.

The helicopter ride hadn't been as unpleasant as she had expected, it wasn't much different from when she had taken flights to patrol the island for predators or to hunt prey in the air. She had even gladly helped in refueling the vehicle or assisting in any way she could to get them to where they were going.

Logan spent the entire ride silent and looking away from her. Not even a word or a 'sorry for attacking you'. He knows that she's a tough woman. What Logan had done was part of the job. She could understand that right? But there's one thing she may not understand: he's not looking at her, because he'd hate to have his one-track train of thought reverse back to when he had almost reached his climax. Even the smallest glance at her will bring back memories of their fight. Logan spent the entire flight with his hands at his sides and his legs crossed at the ankles. That's just the way it is. It's not that he doesn't like her: he just can't look at her. If only she knew that he isn't the sour-puss that he may come off as.

She had been trying to build up the guts to apologize to Logan, him being quiet and avoiding contact with her the entire time. She assumed he was still angry about the fight, and decided to leave him be until his demeanor wasn't so... Menacing, especially after she had to lose her white torn shirt when it had caught on fire during a refueling session.

Normally, the woman wouldn't feel so naked, she being used to the lack of clothing. But being around human beings in her makeshift leopard print underwear made her a little uncomfortable as everyone else wore ten times more than her. But she tried to not let it bother her.

Her face was pressed against the window in anticipation, gazing about the city as she hadn't seen a city, let alone this one, in over 12 years! How could it have grown so much?! It was mid day when they had arrived and the city was bustling with life! It was exciting!

They eventually landed on a heliport near the mansion, in New York City, that all too familiar place, near that all too familiar park bench on 5th Ave~

When the double glass doors open, though, familiarity trades with new faces. Agents, dressed in dark colors, all wear the insignia on their vests, some wear it on their arms. Even the simpler desk workers and receptionists also wear the badge. No service is too small when fighting for world peace. Once the team gets inside, Logan will be the first one to tear off a lab coat from an unsuspecting worker and drape it over the woman's body. He won't do much else after that, lest he wants himself to swell to such a degree that it'll hurt-a bad case of a clogged pipe.

Then she felt a pair of calloused hands place a soft white material over her shoulders. It was a lab coat, and she gratefully accepted Logan's gift and put her arms inside the sleeves, wrapping the flimsy but thicker material around herself, tying the string around her waist, tossing her long brown hair down her back while she tried to keep a serious composure among these people, trying to look as heroic as possible.

After leading the team of two down a flight of stairs and into his office, he spins around and faces them. Logan stays in the corner.

"You don't need to treat me like I'm foreign, Colonel Fury. I speak over 10 languages fluently."

"Alright. Let's start with your name. What do they call you? After you tell a bit about yourself, I'll leave you free to explore the place. Meeting will begin in two hours ".

When he looked at her questionably, she took a deep breath, and explained everything she could about who she was, where she came from, and how she came to be who she is now.

Out of all the potential agents he had his intelligence team muster up, this woman had remained illusive. Nothing. Not even a drop of a blood sample or a fingerprint. She's a rare one. Fury's desk is messy, smothered in photos, news paper clippings and old, dead cigarettes.

"I hardly remember anything about my past. I get flashbacks occasionally, but… other than that, I know only that I had a family once. And they abandoned me and left me to die." She explained, a little pained to ponder on her past.

"… we took a vacation to Africa. It was so beautiful, and I loved every moment of it, wandering through the brush and smelling the forestry... But when I awoke in my sleeping bag one morning... I had been abandoned... Left for dead," she said, growling a little at the memory.

"I wandered the jungle for hours, hungry and afraid, only 11 years old, completely defenseless and open to any predators. When, from the bushes, out comes this tigress... Huge and fierce! So beautiful but frightening at the same time. I was so scared, I trembled and couldn't run, knowing she d catch me before I could make it three feet away. I just stood there, panicking, when three tiger cubs came out of the brush behind her, almost newborns," she mused, smiling at the mention of the cubs.

"One of them came right up to me, sniffing my tired legs and rubbing against them like your normal house cat. When the mother saw this, she approached me and smelled me, my hair, my legs, chest, everywhere. She put her head against my own, and when I thought she was going to swallow me whole, a soft voice spoke in my mind, female and motherly. All she said was 'Come with me,'"

"I got onto her back and she carried me to the heart of the forest, to a little run down hut. On the porch of the hut was a old Amazonian woman, still tall and strong, not frail and weak. She welcomed me in with open arms and nursed me back to health. She spoke to me of a legend, the legend of the 'Guardian', a human with the power to change their form into creatures of the earth to protect this precious and sacred jungle. She said that I was that guardian. She trained me for a few years, how to hunt and battle intruders, and then she grew ill. She passed on, becoming a swarm of glowing dust that flew straight into me! Filling me with the power of the Guardian!" She exclaimed, her voice having grown loud.

"So I abandoned the memory of my past life, reforged myself and put my powers to use, vowing to protect the jungle whatever it took, forgetting my old name and creating a new name for myself. A name that the old woman bestowed upon me before she died. A name meaning 'beautiful creature', in the language she taught me to speak. My name is..." She stopped, taking a deep breath as Fury looked at her with wide eyes but a composed expression, Logan still quiet behind her in the corner.

"... is Xyta Albrooke."

"So an old amazon, who I'm guessing was the previous 'guardian', gave up her powers to you since she was about to die anyway? Hmm. She must have spoken to you through the tigers and made them carry you to the center of the forest. Who knew how long the Guardian was waiting on a successor? You probably got forced to live out a destiny that wasn't meant for you"

"O' maybe it was destiny that brought 'er there..."

Logan cuts in. He silently stands there, looking elsewhere, eyes half-closed, hurting, thinking, but somehow, focused. When he isn't a hot head, he's distant, almost melancholy and perceptive at the same time. Judging from his words, he seems to know a little bit about the word 'destiny'. If anyone were to ask him about his past, though, he'd suggest he shouldn't waste his breath. Not even he remembers much of anything about himself. What he does know, is this:

"Yeh jus' gotta take whateva life gives you an' make it yer own".

Xyta looked at Fury a little angrily when he said that she wasn't meant to be the Guardian, and was about to lash back when Logan cut in, suggesting otherwise. She turned to the gruffy man-beast and gave him a soft smile, mouthing "thank you," to him before turning back to Fury.

Fury looks at Logan, then at Xyta. Finally he just shrugs and dismisses them both. "We'll meet again in two hours. Logan can show you around"

When Fury turns around to sort more files, Logan leaves the room first, slumping, in pain. He'll try his best to put his needs to the side...just this once...c'mon Logan. Don't look at her. Don't smell her!

He sent them away for Logan to show her around, and as expected, Logan slumped out like it was a chore. Xyta noticed him limping a little, regardless of his ability to heal himself. She immediately felt a pang of guilt and was about to apologize for everything when he started throwin in random names about the different people who worked here in this organization. It was almost humorous.

"Th-this...this is where all the legal mumbo-jumbo goes on" Logan points inside of a random room, filled the men and women discussing politics. The next few rooms look the same: just people in uniforms, talking and answering phones. Endless cubicles and halls that break off into intersections; one could get lost here easily, and from the looks of how busy everyone is, nobody would have the time to guide Xyta around. Their next stop is a larger room with several monitors hooked in the walls, showing news forecasts, daily reports and recent mishaps in the world.

"Here's one o' the briefin' rooms. Lackeys come 'ere an' get the scoop o' things"

Lackey. Logan always had funny names to describe the Agents here. If one works the telephones or the computers, they are 'techno rats'. If one is a proud S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, they are just 'lackeys'. Logan has an easy dub for everything and everyone. A little further down is a few more rooms. Typical. One particular hallway leads into a locker room. Once inside, the smell of manly musk, aftershave and body sprays waff through the air. A few of the lockers were left open, inside of which sits a round shield, decorated in circular bands of red and white, but no star in the middle...

If Xyta asks Logan about it, he wouldn't know. He hasn't been around here long enough. Right above the starless shield, marked on the walls inside the locker, are red words.

"Here's the locker room fo' some o' the higher level lackeys. Some o' 'em ain't around no more. Some o' 'em are still here. That's jus' the way things are. They come an' go. Like High School o' somethin' Let's get outta here"

Logan explains and turns around to lead Xyta out, leaving the opened locker behind like a fleeting thought. The words above the shield had said: "The John who walks...watches you...right now"

When they crossed the starless sheild, she just raised a brow at it, wanting to say she had seen it before but couldn't remember where...

Moving on...

One of Logan's favorite places, naturally, is the Training Room. Many brave men and women had stepped in here to be tested. If one asked any agent about their experiences here, they'd share war stories. Most of everyone will say that this room is the worst place to pay your dues, but to Logan, this room is just a theme park. Beep-bop-bleep-boop! Logan punches in the code on a pad next to the Training Room's entrance and steps in, still limping in pain.

And they arrived at the Training Room, where Logan's scent grew a little more relaxed. She figured now was the best time.

"Hey, Logan?" She asked, stopping in the middle of he hallway until he turned back to look at her, grudgingly.

"I'm sorry for what happened back at the forest..." Is all she can muster before she marches right up to him, looking down at the spot on his thigh where she had bit him, the wound still a little swollen and oozing with healing fluids, why hadn't this healed yet?

Taking her hand, she raised it to her lips and coated her fingers with saliva, cautiously reaching down and brushing it into the wound. He hissed a little, but soon the wound cleared completely, all of the pain gone, and she did. She did her best to ignore the bulge right above it.

The very moment her fingers touch her pouted, glossy lips, Logan's mouth went dry once more. Then, the moment he feared: Xyta rubs her wet fingers into his thigh! Immediately, right in front of her, Logan's hand grabs his bulge so tight, that his own grip forces it to pop and swell over his fingers! His hand is twitching and his chest spasms! What had just happened was obvious, but at least Logan spins away from her so she won't actually see it, despite them both knowing very well.

When he had looked at her a little dumbfounded, she judge gave him another smile.

"No hard feelings?" She asked. He just snorted and turned away, continuing to walk down the hall. Xyta just shrugged behind him and followed him, adjusting the tie on her lab coat. What was his problem?

Why does Xyta do this to him? Can a woman be this cruel? Why hadn't she just killed him back there in Africa? She might as well! At least he won't have to suffer though this. After they enter the Training Room, an oh-so-alluring, carrying a shield, figure spins around...

...and Xyta is face to face with a skull! With protruding cheek bones, an empty nose, a lip-less smile and hollow eyes, his jaw droops open to drop his first few, chilling words.

"Wanna hear a joke?"

Who's this male? Was Xyta expecting someone else? Is she being toyed with? This man is also dressed in shimmering, navy blue spandex that hugs the topographical map of his body, but there's no star-spangled theme to his attire. Instead, his skull face is hooded, while his entire back is draped in a blood red cape! In the place of a star on his shield, there's the letter "T". The "T" stands for...

"Taskmaster's the name! Wanna hear a joke?"

Cold, sterile air slithers from his open jaw. One can never tell who Taskmaster is looking at. Within those hollow holes in his 'eyes', lie deception, but at the same time, it's his gift for observation. There isn't a single trick known to man that Taskmaster hadn't seen and was able to copy right down to the muscle fiber of it. With the martial arts prowess of Iron Fist, swordsmanship of Silver Samurai, aim of Hawkeye and marksmanship of Captain America, he's been a nightmare for both heroes and villians alike!

Oh and he's also a little creepy.

"Knock-knock! Say 'who's there!"'

"She ain't got time fer games, Skin an' Bones!" Skin and Bones is what Logan had dubbed him, and it fits well. Taskmaster 'looks' at Logan.

"Why are you holding yourself like that?" Without being given an answer, Taskmaster faces Xyta, then back to Logan.

"Has a joke already happened before you arrived here?"

"Yeh...a cold one" With his final words, Logan slouches away, leaving Xyta with the hollow-slulled, Jack-o'-Lantern face.

"Fuck you, Logan..." The woman gritted under her breath as he left her behind in the room with this creep of a guy... Creature, whatever he was! Frankly, he scared the crap out of her, and when he cackled and asked her his joke, all she did was snarl menacingly, baring those sparkly whites.

"So, wanna hear a joke or not!? Knock-knock!"

Whether Xyta would answer him or not, the joke never reaches its punchline, because at that moment, Taskmaster raises his bow and shoots an arrow past Xyta's face! Sheew! The arrow will whizz past her ear and hit a blunt object in a soft plunkt!

But then he drew a bow! And Xyta was ready to shift into a rhinoceros to smash his bony body to pieces when he shot the arrow right past her face and it crashed into something behind her. Turning around, she came face to face with destiny.

"Nice shot".

The voice comes from behind her. She saw a walking, moving mass of rocks, sculpted into a herculean man, and dressed in a cream skinned finish. His chest heaves out when he breathes, and when he exhales, his body relaxes. A living fortress on two legs and crested with blonde hair, Steve Rogers had just entered the training room, topless and holding his starred shield-with Taskmaster's arrow in it! A man without ego nor malice, he only nods to Taskmaster with a smile, and when his sapphire blue eyes meet Xyta's bright crystals...

...he shyly looks down! Underneath the War Hero, still lies the timid, artistic, weak child of old. Nobody knows that though. That boy had died almost seventy years ago.

"Ma'am..."

A huge Herculean built soldier with wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood there with a star spangled shield… Regardless, the man before her stood without a shirt, his gorgeous torso rippling with muscle and firmness. Xyta stood breathless in front of him, simply breathtaken by his beauty.

Steve bows and keeps his professional distance. He thinks about it, hesitates, then swoops in for a quick, soft handshake. It's impossible for him to hide his dimples and the blush of red on his cheeks. Nearly a century on duty can tarnish one's social skills. After the handshake, Steve will stand there in awkward silence, until Taskmaster speaks up:

"For a sick, dying man, you still got it, aye? Now THAT'S a good joke!"

Steve wants to defend himself, but he can't. He only frowns, then steals a short glance at Xyta.

"Well, I'm not dead yet...there's still a job to do"

Steve finishes in a weak, tired tone.

"Yeah!? Well, lemme give you a joke, old timer! You'll love this one! Knock-knock!"

"...who's there?"

"Takin' Oveh!"

"...'taking over' who?"

Taskmaster walks up to Steve, face to skull, trumping the blonde's height.

"After you kick the bucket, old timer, I'm gonna be the one takin' oveh! Gahaha! They're gonna be callin' me Cap' Task from then onward! Gahahaha!"

Taskmaster laughs all the way to the sliding doors and steps out. His cold cackles will haunt the halls, then fade. Steve and Xyta are alone now, but this doesn't make Steve feel any easier. He only bites his bottom lip and looks at Xyta from the corner of his eye. Despite what just happened, Steve still puts duty above all else and gives Xyta a proper introduction:

"Apologize for that ma'am. Name's Rogers. I know we just met...but please...ignore what that man had just said. Please…"

Steven frowns. He might've just made a bad impression on her: asking her to do things when she barely even knows him. He doesn't mean to. It's just...he doesn't want her asking questions about himself. He'll keep his pain to himself. It's what a leader should do, right? No matter how bad it hurts...

Damn, these people. Why couldn't anyone just look her straight in the eye?! Was there something wrong with her? A million questions raced through her mind as Rogers, the super soldier, turned to her.

She could smell the tension on him, restraint. But she couldn't let her guard down so easily…

"He's lucky you were here to save him. I was about to ram him like a bull." She said, tossing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes, her lips a tight line. Glancing at Steve, she could practically smell the emotions he was withholding, and it almost bothered her. She softened her demeanor a notch, and turned her whole body towards him.

"Hey, it's alright. I won't bite you. Unless you pull a stunt like Bones over here and tick me off." She said with a light smirk.

"My name is Xyta, by the way. Xyta Albrooke." she said with a shrug at the last two words, trying to ignore attractions she was beginning to have towards the patriot, as to avoid further hurt that she had experienced with Logan. By the smell and stature of this man, he was resistant to any kind of unprofessional social action, like a guard constantly. A fellow guardian...

Xyta. Such a brash attitude. She's different from the women of his time. Where she still carries herself as a strong woman, there's a unique taste of masculinity in her. He can smell her fearless and blunt attitude. It's just a shame she has to see him out of his element. He hadn't been the same, as Taskmaster pointed out. Despite that, Steve is a still a man. It's in a man's demeanor to be firm, strong and unmovable. He won't say a word of his pain.

By his smell, she could tell many things... He had been alive for nearly a century, but yet he still looked young... He was pure of heart and body... And regardless of what Taskmaster had said about him dying, she could see a great fire burning inside of him that intended to keep him living for a great number of years to come. This man was truly remarkable. But many things still remained a mystery to her...

He hadn't always been this way, big and strong... No... He had once been small and frail, such as she... But he was born with a sense of courage that had stayed with him through his whole life, after a transformation had occurred...

They were so alike and yet so different... And just by looking at him and smelling him long enough allowed her to discern that much information. Sometimes her powers still amazed her.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am. Really. It is."

Steve gives her his earnest feelings while keeping away. He tries his best to not look at her as woman, but as another partner in The Great Fight against evil. She's beautiful, though. A man can never ignore that.

"So you're the new girl, then? That changes everything..."

In that moment when he learns that she's a new member, the frail, shy boy vanishes. With a glint in his eye, Steve straightens his stance and locks gazes with her. There is no time for his tender moments-not anymore.

"Well, ma'am, you're going to be addressing me as your 'Captain'. You can drop the 'Steve'. Do I make myself clear?"

His voice is firm and strict; a tone that he expects Xyta to immediately yield under.

Whatever attraction she had felt towards the Captain dropped like a pin as soon as he took his commanding stance, indicating that she addresses him as 'Captain'. She lowered her eyes in a menacing gaze, even curling a side of her lip to show him her fang. She submitted to NO ONE. Especially someone she hardly knew. She thought this was a team, not a fucking drill line!

"You want to know about the Training Room? 80-by-80 floor space, perfectly cubed, bullet-proof glass and impenetrable walls. Any more questions, ma'am?" Captain gives her another stare. When he had first entered the Training Room moments ago, something had been on his mind. He wasn't...his 'professional self'. He'll have to make sure that he'll never let his weakness slip out again. Don't ask, don't tell. Xyta doesn't have to know anything.

She didn't say anything to avoid any major issues, and she was sure she made a point by glaring at him in such a manner, which he stayed completely unfazed at. It only made her angrier.

The rest of the tour will be in silence, but even though he's strict with her, he still opens the doors and helps her where ever he sees fit. He may be the "no-nonsense" Captain, but Xyta is a still a lady.

The frustration pent up inside as he finished her tour, giving her strict commands, none of which she obeyed. When he would tell her to move it, she'd deliberately stop and refuse to move until he asked politely. She'd make it clear to him and anyone in this godforsaken fortress that she relied on nobody, and she lived by her own virtues and rules. She'd just give him nasty glares when he would hold doors open for her, but would walk through them anyway.

She could tell it was annoying him, and she got a good kick out of it. Finally, they arrived to where the meeting was, and they sat as far away from each other as possible. Had Xyta really been attracted to that son of a bitch? Ugh! His body was still amazing, though…

The Meeting Room, 12 hundred hours.

"So...how'd you find your little tour?" Fury starts off by asking Xyta. She just glanced towards the Captain and rolled her eyes, walking to her seat and not saying anything otherwise. Fury seemed to get the hint. At the round table, sits Taskmaster, Maria Hill, Bob, a few lesser agents, and finally, a wheezing Captain America. Wolverine is no where to be found.

"Though we're missing some people, I might as well start the briefing anyway-"

"-Hey! Wanna hear a quick joke?! Knock-kno-"

"-%^%& it, Task, if you say one more Knock-Knock joke, I'm gonna have to give YOU a Knock-Knock joke! Matter fact, Knock-Knock!"

Fury's tone is hot and seething. Taskmaster takes the bait anyway.

"Who's there?"

" #$* your #$%! Now let me get started with the briefing!"

"..."

"Thank you. ANYWAY..."

Fury starts his briefing, which lasted nearly two hours of him pointing on a map of Africa, drawing graphs, and flipping through projected images of the continent with the press of a button. Names were brought up. Names such as Emma Frost, Juggernaut, and another name that sounds familiar, like something that had came from the locker room. The briefing was soon over, and everyone, but Captain, is dismissed. He seems to have a hard time getting up!

The next two hours consisted of Taskmaster being annoying and Fury briefing the people who had showed up on her island and the plans that were aware to them of the opposing team. It wasn't very detailed and it was rough, with the lack of teammates and the tensions growing in the room. Fury eventually dismissed everyone, but as Xyta found herself following Maria Hill out of the room to find the female living quarters, she noticed that Captain wasn't standing, in fact, he seemed to be struggling.

"You're ok?" Fury asks. Captain doesn't respond. Instead, the pain only gets worse. On Captain's attempt to stand up, coffee spills over and burns his leg!

She had walked out of the door by then, but she hid just outside, listening in onto what may have been going on. She could smell pain in Roger's body, almost feel it… when Fury inquired of him, she could hear an attempt to stand up, but then there was a blast of coffee smell and a grunt of pain, and her instincts over took.

She dashed in to see Steve doubling over, holding his leg, which was steaming. She could smell burnt flesh as Fury dashed over to help him. She copied Fury's actions, dashing to kneel in front of Steve, a sudden nurturing instinct overcoming her as she moved his hands to investigate his injury. The coffee had been so hot, it had burnt right through his uniform! It wasn't ordinary coffee…

She grabbed a few napkins that were sitting nearby, and dabbed away the remaining liquid from his burnt thigh, some blood beginning to mix in as well.

Fury suggested the infirmary, but Xyta waved him down. "No, no! Here, let me…" she said softly but urgently, raising a hand to her lips and coating her forefingers with saliva, very softly placing them over the Captain's wound. If it had worked for Logan… would it work for him? It did, the burnt skin patching back up with her healing properties, and soon the skin was still a little red, but otherwise healed.

She didn't bother to look at Rogers as she stood up and stalked out of the room, not wanting to face the Captain's likely scolding expression as to why she did something like that. Doing it had obviously had led Logan to leaving her alone in a room with Task! She had done the deed, healed the injury, and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. Her anger only built up some more as she met Maria Hill down the hallway.

After the small accident, Xyta had healed the burn on Captain's thigh and left suddenly. Both men stared after her in awe. Fury more so confused than Steve, who seemed sad. But they were alone now. This is good. There's something Steve needs to get off his chest.

"Colonel. Don't I get special priority for this mission?"

"..."

Fury looks at him and takes in a deep breath. This won't be easy to say, but he'll say it, anyway.

"Rogers...I didn't put you on the roster because you can't fight. Not like this…" Fury bites his bottom lip after he said that, because he knows that Steve wouldn't like what he just heard.

"Colonel in all due res-"

"-Need I remind you, Captain, that you're a product of the Super Soldier Serum? It's half of what made you who you are: a hero. One of the best. But, the damn thing's been in your body for decades! Your body overtaxed the serum's ability to replenish your physique. If you keep fighting, there's a guarentee that you won't be fighting much longer! The thing's eating you out from the inside! It's over, Rogers. It's over"

Silence.

Fury had dropped the truth, as powerful as any nuclear bomb. His pending death: the very thing that Steve had been trying to ignore. Steve's eyes glimmer wetly, then freezes cold. He doesn't speak. He can't speak. He's just stiff, cold, not breathing, not thinking.

Fury senses his discomfort, but he still continues.

"That's why I'm going to assign Taskmaster in your place. He's going to lead Xyta and the rest"

"So I should just sit here and watch?" Steve's voice trembles weakly.

"Rogers, we already have a team that's ready to be dispatched and lead by Taskmaster. You could relax, soldier. Take it eas-"

"-Colonel! Don't do this! I can still fight, don't make me sit this one out!"

A bitter mix of pain and desperation shakes Steve's voice. No, he doesn't know much of Africa, but he knows that Xyta's home is the most dearest thing to her. Africa isn't just the root of all civilization, but the root of Xyta's newly found inner strength. Just from meeting her, he already felt a similar drive in her heart; a love for her land. Like Steve, Xyta had came from her soil, was nutured by it and had grown into a strong tree, who still refuses to leave her land. A simple cycle in nature embodies Steve and Xyta well. Be it America or Africa, it doesn't matter. As long as there's love, there will always be a need to protect. Steve will put his life on the line, sick or strong. If this would be his last mission...then so be it.

"Rogers...I know you better than anyone here, and if there's one thing about you that never surprises me, it's your stubborn attitude" Fury then adds, the Amazon very quickly coming to mind shortly after. "You really want to get out there?"

"I've been fighting for the ideals I believe in, colonel, for far too long! Don't take this away from me...someone's land is in danger. I need to be there!

Suddenly, Steve feels like that same young boy, after being denied his request to serve his country for being too weak. Ironic: no matter how far he gets in life, his past comes back to haunt him.

"Let me fight for Xyta. Let me fight for Africa!"

"ROGERS, I understand what you're TRYING TO DO, but just LET IT GO! Our glory days are over! This isn't about you anymore!"

"Of course it isn't about me, colonel! It was never was! This about someone's home! Someone's family...I ain't got a mom or dad no more, colonel, please...if I'm to die, let it be for the people"

Female Lounge, 14 hundred hours.

Just like the men's lounge, desks and tables are huddled together. A vending machine sits in a corner, and a flat screen television is on a wall, in case of emergenies.

"So you're the new girl?"

Maria and a few other female agents exhchange glances. One trait that women had fine-tuned sharply, is the art of silent conversation. Glances, looks, smiles and even the occasional pseudo cough, any tiny gesture can mean something-something that Xyta will never get, simply because she's the new girl. At the female table, it's a game of poker, and nobody is breaking face. Maria, being the superior, second to only Colonel Fury, will take the liberty to melt the ice.

Xyta shuffled uncomfortably in the female lounge, surrounded by female agents who gave her half smiles as they sipped on their weightloss drinks and powdered their noses.

"Lieutenant Hill, here. These are agents Jill, Astrid, Joan and Marlene"

The rest of the girls throw weak waves and false half-smiles.

"You'll get used to it, love. I can tell that you don't like it much here. Being taken away from home, living with us. Don't worry. After the mission is over, you can go back home, free. We're doing this to protect Africa. Promise"

Maria's glossed lips curve as she leans her head to one side. The stars in her eyes dance. Suddenly, a hand will reach out to touch Xyta's; a friendly woman-to-woman gesture. Maria had always been more comfortable around women than men.

"Anything you need, you let me know" Would be Maria's last words before she lets Xyta walk off to the balcony to be alone. Half of her wanted to go see if she's alright. Another half of her tells her stay. Maybe Xyta's going through a home-sick phase?

Xyta, stubborn as ever, just have a blank nod and headed to her room, back to the balcony. As she closed her eyes to try and calm down, a lot going on in her brain, she heard distinct voices yelling from a few floors below. Tuning in her ears, she utilized the hearing of a bat, until the voices of Fury and Rogers came into sound...

"The thing is eating you from the inside out! It's over, Rogers..."

Xyta felt a pang of hurt for the Captain. The serum? He was... Dying? No!

She leaned down over her balcony to hear further, and heard Steve arguing of wanting to fight for what was special to her... To fight... For her?

For the first time in 12 years, Xyta wept. She had never felt such kindness be expressed towards her... And how could such a strong soul be dying? What about that fire she had seen? It made her desperate... To keep Rogers alive…

Besides, she wouldn't tolerate someone like Task leading them to protect her home. No, she would demand that Steve be the one to do it, if he so desired. There had to be a way... To help him...


	3. Saving Captain Rogers

She found their conversation end and she ran from her room as quickly as possible, she had to find Fury and demand that he let Rogers fight. Down flights of stairs, running into workers here and there... Xyta sniffed Fury out and found him back at his office, she bursting through the doors with a menacing growl on her lips.

"Captain America leads the team to protect my home if he truly desires to. No man declares to fight for what's right and is pushed away!" She growled, her bright blue eyes glowing like stars. Her demeanor then softened ever so slightly and Xyta placed her hands on Fury's messy, unorganized desk, a look of true sadness in her eyes.

"Steve Rogers is not dying, Colonel. I see something in him... Something that needs to be unlocked... It's a golden fire, a desire to stay living... It's the same thing my mentor saw in me before she died... Please, Colonel... Give him a chance."

_How the #%$ did she just hear our conversation?_

...was what Fury would've said, but he keeps his cool. It seems that Xyta is a lot like Wolverine. He would've read up on her listending powers, if only he managed to sniff out information on her. Fury is getting rusty. Either that, or these newly bred super humans are getting sneakier. This only makes Captain and Fury look even more like dinosaurs in the room.

Xyta isn't the only one who's stubborn. Captain turns his gaze away from the Amazon. It isn't anything towards Xyta. He's grateful for her genuine care. But he's still upset that she now knows about his condition. Don't ask, don't tell. Nobody finds out. Too bad that unwritten rule doesn't cover eavesdropping. How much has Xyta heard? If she listened to everything that had been said, she'd know of his burning desire to fight for her land-die for her land. But then, she also knows of his weakened state. Should he feel ashamed? Mortified? Captain only smiles.

"Thought I told you to address me as your Captain, ma'am."

He looks at her with a stern expression. But the look was immediately returned with a scowl she wore all too well. "I call you what I want. It's about to be 'jackass' in a minute." She hissed, placing her hands on her hips and looking up his 6'2 frame. Rogers justs rolls his eyes. She was relentless. Obstinate, at that.

"Colonel knows what's best. Just like how you, Xyta, have to respect me, I also have to respect the Colonel."

Captain walks up to her and rests a hand on her shoulder. He can see the wet glow of concern in her eyes. Has she been crying? No, can't be. Xyta had showed her teeth at him when he simply ordered her to properly address him in rank a few hours ago. This can't be the same woman who's showing compassion for him now. Can Taskmaster be that bad, maybe?

"Thank you for helping me."

Captain's voice is low. He steps in close and bows his forehead so he can match her gaze. Their foreheads almost touch-almost. A kiss of musk and fresh apples brushes against her face when he speaks.

"Africa's proud to have a young woman like you, and if your parents were still around, they'd be in tears from knowing that their child had grown up to be so strong. Do good, Xyta. I know you can."

Captain finishes his statement while looking into her eyes, as if he's trying to burn his words into the back of her brain. Why is he standing so close to her? Isn't he supposed to maintain his professionalism? Then it all makes sense when Captain turns to Fury and says...

"I'll step down from position and leave my complete faith in Taskmaster." Captain, now simply Steve, boldly strides out of the office. He's not donning the 'Captain' rank anymore, but he still marches off with the heart of a soldier. This leaves Fury and Xyta alone. Steve may not know women well, but Fury sure does, and he knows that Xyta is probably livid now. He just hopes his words can catch her before she blows the roof off.

"Look, Xyta, hold on. Please just understand. Making these decisions isn't easy. I'm doing what's best for your Captain. Believe me, I know you don't want to see him die, and neither do I."

Of course the woman was livid beyond belief. It was showing by the way she was gripping the windowsill, creating hand imprints that were near impossible to fix. Right now, all of the information was a bit too much for her, and so she had to simplify and make a decision based on what her instincts-and her heart-were telling her.

Fury swallows hard and studies the hurt in her expression.

"Now, Taskmaster is every bit as capable as your Captain is. Once the mission is over, I promise you that you'll return home and you can forget all about this. Leave this behind. I know this isn't what you want right now."

Fury does his best to placate the situation.

"His condition can't be reversed and can't be cured. The serum had been a part of his genetic makeup for decades now. Tampering with that is tampering with the building blocks that shape his body itself. Don't try anything...please."

"One thing is for sure, Taskmaster will not be setting foot in my jungle. You can take him off the poll for a leadership position right now, or I will sprout wings this instant and fly back to Africa, and I will take on Hydra myself!" she screamed, turning to Fury with her nails and teeth having elongated, like she was preparing for a fight.

After taking a few breaths, the woman calmed down and she turned back to the window, still shaking a little. Steve had been so close… she could smell his sweet breath and his hand on her shoulder before he had left the room, putting down the shield for good and leaving her in a fluster of anger, sadness, and utmost desperation to keep him here on the team!

Xyta has acute senses and can turn into animals. Who knows what else she can do? Fury sure doesn't, and that's why he wants her to stay as distant as she can from Captain. That's when Maria Hill shows up at the office's entrance, arms folded. She had been concerned about Xyta ever since she had seen her sullen attitude back at the female lounge.

"Xyta, you see his condition, you feel it…" began Maria Hill before Xyta lost control and lashed back at Maria, with her fangs bared and eyes glowing again.

"I WILL NOT DENY WHAT I SAW!" she roared, sending several papers spewing across the room and Maria stumbling a little from the forced wind of the scream. _Damn, what could this woman not do?_ Was all the female agent thought as she adjusted her hair while keeping a considerable distance away from the angry guardian. Xyta managed to cool herself down, putting the teeth and claws away while hanging her head as she supported herself on the window railing, so many thoughts buzzing through her head.

"You think Steve is weakening because of some dumb serum that's been locked in his body for over 70 years…" Xyta began, still turned away from the director and his right hand agent. "From the moment I met him, I sensed something, SAW something burning in his bosom, something powerful, but it's contained…" Xyta explained, her voice much softer and quieter than it had been before.

"I would know, because I've seen it before. I've seen HIM, before…"

There's silence as the three stood there in the room, all churning thoughts. Maria Hill is the first to speak.

"I have an idea: pit Captain and Taskmaster inside the training room and I'll analyze Captain's condition to see if he's able to lead. If Task can't do it, we can always replace him with Xyta."

"Why Xyta?"

"She's on par with Wolverine, colonel. If Captain can still put up a stellar performance inside the Training Room, then we should reconsider...but..."

Maria Hill turns to Xyta and looks at her, while still talking to Fury.

"If my analytics tell me that Xyta is holding back for Captain's sake, then Captain stays off the team."

"So it's between her and Taskmaster, right?"

"Yes, colonel."

Fury looks at Maria, then at Xyta. "Well, what do you think about all of this?"

"Let us see what Captain can still do, but we can not put him up against Taskmaster… We must put him up against someone who will give him the chance to truly show what he is capable of…not try and kill him the moment the fight begins." she said. When Fury and Maria exchanged confused looks and were about to speak, Xyta slowly turned around with hope glimmering in her eyes and a gentle smile across her lips.

"…I will fight Captain America."


	4. I'll Give You All

Inside the Training Room, 15 hundred hours.

""Whut? I ain't gonna have a piece of the Cap'n?"

Taskmaster angrily flails his sword about. Only god knows how long Task had been wishing he could be the one to end Captain's life. He's almost every Avenger all packed in one! If he can train some of Captain's worst enemies, then it's a guarentee that, when it comes to putting the cap on The Cap', The Task is up to the task!

"At least lemme shoot a few arrows at'em!"

"No." Maria Hill's voice sharply denies through the intercom. She's watching the entire room from above, through a bulletproof, one-way glass. Nobody can see her, but she can still watch everything below.

"C'mon! Lemme cap his legs with my .44?"

"No."

"Cut his arms off with my stainless, double-handed broadswo-!?"

"-No!"

"Tie 'em up and squeeze the sh-"

"No."

"...is that joke?"

"Nope."

"So what can I do?"

"Sit and watch or leave."

Taskmaster gives up and sulks away, dragging the tip of his sword along the floor with a raincloud over his head. It only took a few minutes for Steve to arrive after Maria summoned him through the intercom. Once he reported to the Training Room, she explained that Fury is willing to go over his decision on taking him off the roster if he does well enough against someone who is just as good as Wolverine.

Steve wasn't sure who else they'd suggest to spar with him, other than Taskmaster, who's arguably the best raw talent in the building. Then Maria mentions Xyta, and Steve instantly remembers her concerns about him. She's doing this all for him. Why? She can't stand him, right? When a woman is angry, there isn't much a man can do about it...right? Maybe this is her way of blowing steam at him for trying to put her in her place earlier. Was asking her to yield to his authority that bad?

"Oh and we're taking away your shield as well. This is strictly based on physical combat. No special abilites. That goes for both sparring partners. Because there will be no powers of any sort, it is encouraged that you two push each other as physically possible. If I pick up once of mercy, my word will go back to Colonel Fury. Understood, Captain?"

"Yes, ma'am. And please...I ain't Captain no more. So it's Steve."

A shudder, then a sharp inhale is heard through the inercom. Maria sounds distraught.

"Please, Captain...s-stop it...Xyta, you may come out now. Remember the rules. Keep the powers out of the room. Room maintenance is costly as it is… and we all know you broke the simulator, so don't try and hide it."

No powers, no animals and no strong shouts of air. Is Maria trying to recreate the battle Xyta had with Wolverine? Fury must've told her how she was able to handle him back in Africa, and how both of them could've died if it weren't for Fury showing up. It suddenly makes sense now. The aim of this spar is to see how well Captain can do in the same, life threatening situation,

"Begin."

Maria announces then shuts off the intercom, along with most of the lights. Suddenly, there are sounds of chirping birds, the wailing baboons, and the smell of vegetation. Captain is in the forests of KwaZulu-Natal!? The Training Room had definitely took some influences from Professor Xavier's Danger Room. Now, thanks to an all-too-convincingly-real holographic technology, wielded by Maria Hill, in the overhanging control booth, she can recreate the scene with Logan at will.

"Well, this is it."

A topless Steve turns around to face the shadows. Warm light peers through the filters of the trees above and dances on his burly body. There's a pond nearby that catches and bounces back the lush green glow and sunlight, making Steve's body shine with a faint jade and yellow.

She waited at the door to the room, where she could hear Maria talking and smell Steve's lovely musk. Xyta couldn't help but ask herself again, why was she doing this? She didn't even know this man and yet she was putting herself and her home on the line to save him. It couldn't be anything other than destiny, nature's storybook, what was supposed to happen, and what was going to happen. Steve held the glow, and Xyta wasn't about to abandon everything she had ever known because everyone else agreed against it. Captain America held something special, something she felt severely connected to.

In the end, she was sure that he wouldn't admit that any of this was true, but at least she could live with the fact that she had helped him sustain his life and complete his destiny. She stood outside the door, ready to face destiny, both his and her own.

The door opened, and she was home… in the jungle, of Africa, back in KawaZulu-Katal… she stepped inside, home again, her world unfolding before her. Was this a cruel way to give her the upper hand against Steve being on her home turf? She knew that Maria had shaped the room to be this way, to see how Steve would be in this environment.

She saw Steve standing there, in the distance, topless again as he stood as defenseless as herself. She remained in the shadows as he still had his back to her. But then, he turned, the sunlight reflecting off of his beautiful skin while the natural glow of the forest showered him in such a gorgeous light, almost as if Steve belonged there in the jungle… it was such an arousing but beautiful sight as Xyta stayed beneath the shadows, slowly making her way towards him. She realized that she still wore a white t-shirt and black shorts, not nearly as bare as he. To even the field, she stripped off her clothes, now only in that cursed leopard print bra and underwear. She stopped just before entering the light, looking up at him.

"Captain…" she spoke softly, getting his attention as she stepped into the light, in all her glory, the jungle light bouncing off of her body and hair as she averted her gaze from him for now, shielding her eyes from the light. She truly belonged in this light, in this place. But as Maria Hill signaled them to begin, Xyta spoke quietly, in a level only Steve would be able to hear, her eyes still not facing his.

"…I have belief in you."

And then she looked up, her crystal eyes almost white now as she jumped up into the air, diving forward to take him to the ground!

"Thank you..."

Steve could've said something else. A "sorry", a "I won't let you down", and possibly even a "I'll fight for your family". This is Captain America, the man who fights for your ideals, your faith, even when he's dying. Her eyes fade pale, and right there, the fibers in his body twitch. It's time for them to embrace destiny! Steve watches Xyta as she soars high above him. Her curvaceous body eclipses the filtered sunlight, casting a shadow over his body!

Time slows down. There are a number of things can do: accept her clash and roll to the ground with her, dash away and gain distance, or thwart her dive with a blunt attack of his own! Summoning his enhanced speed calls for his body to strain more serum, something he's not in shape to do! No time to think, Xyta's body is closing the gap, quickly! Steve holds up his arms and catches her by the waist! Whump! Her soft, tender body falls into his strong, cradling arms, then drives him into the grass with a hard whud!

"Nnhh!"

He opens his eyes to the sight of Xyta straddling his neck. Her beauty begins at the hips that press into his chest, then ladders up her flat, chiseled stomach, her smooth and supple neck, then peaks at her white, pale gaze that eats at his soul! Steve clenches his teeth, holding onto her thighs to keep them from closing on him! He isn't sure if scissoring him was what she had planned, but it's his first instinct! She blushed as she saw his eyes wandering up her body until their gazes met, and he saw the redness collect on her cheeks! With his hands secured to her thighs so she couldn't move, she gave him a nice punch to the chin to loosen his grip.

Bam! Xyta feeds him the taste of her knuckles, then the taste of something hot and coppery in his mouth. He face spins to the side, where he smells the grass. Then, he turns back. She pulls him over and they went tumbling across the grassy floor, tackling and jockeying for dominance as Xyta tried to ignore the raging burning between her thighs and look for the Glow within him, and coax it from it's confinements somehow.

After a few moments of wrestling for control, Xyta managed to yank herself free of him and stand up, flipping backwards, desperately searching for that fire she had seen before… it seemed that Steve wasn't wholly into the fight, and in order for the glow to become eminent, he needed to be on fire and full of fighting passion!

"Think, Xyta, think!" she growled to herself under her breath, as she watched Steve get back up. How did she coax him into fighting her back? Piss him off? Motivate him? She figured insulting him would only contrast with what she had said only minutes ago, so she took the higher road.

"Rogers! I need your heart into this! Fight me!" she screamed, keeping a softly bouncing stance with her fists up, her bosom heaving with anticipation and her nether regions aching, her heart pounding and her mind spinning, all by just seeing him here, in her own world.

"I fought Wolverine with my bare hands! Hit me! FIGHT BACK!"

There she is.

Hard knuckles raises over her white eyes. Her jittering bosoms, the light bouncing in her bright, optical orbs, the ends of her hair skipping about; her entire body is dancing, inviting him to get closer. Something squwaks from high above in the trees, then another baboon shout. Nature calls out to him and so does she! But he's still a man in another world. Armed with just his body and his wits, what else does Steve need?

Steve raises up his fists and quickly closes his distance while keeping his head low. He'll hesitate, but soon goes for the first blow: shoving his knuckles into her waist! He twists and turns his fist inside of her, penetrating her deeply until he feels her ribs! It's a move that he regrets doing, and he only feels worse when he listens to her groans while her oxygen kisses his skin!

It hurt like hell, but at the same time, she rejoiced! He was fighting back!

When she opens her glossy, pouted lips to spill her air, Steve sucks in her breath, along with the smell of dirt and grass. Some of her oxygen is now inside of him, and when he exhales, he puffs it back out against her face. They are sharing blows, sharing air, sharing nudity, sharing the moment!

"Now hit me like the soldier you claim to be!" she exclaimed, jumping up and giving him a roundhouse kick to the chest, sending him across the way several feet until his back came into a tree, after which she closed the distance once again and returned the favor by punching him right in the core, right below his diaphragm, pushing the breath out of him and sharing the same oxygen with him again, which she found completely arousing…

Her fist...god, her fist. It went in s-s so deep. The impact forces Steve to bow and cough over himself! Where is his oxygen? His lungs shrivel and quivers, trying to suck, drink, swallow anything, even the smallest dribble of air. He can't breathe her nor smell her, but he can feel her pushing her way inside of him, churning the voice out of him!

But she shook the thought away and turned her back to him, grabbing his hand and flipping the enormous man over her head and onto the ground again, pouncing on him again as she straddled his stomach, her ass right on his chest! She grabbed one of his legs and yanked it up and back as far as she could pull it, hearing the strains in his voice as she stretched his muscles beyond what they were used to.

"Damn, Rogers! You need some yoga on the side of your lifting routine!" she said humorously through gritted teeth, actually having a hard time shoving his leg down towards his face. She's bending him...further...and further. His limit breaks...

Crik!

...and so does something in his leg! Steve's eyes are glowing, wet with grief, and bulging in shock. Normally, the serum would've had enhanced his flexibility so his limbs could handle the stress, but not in this state. Not when the serum is slowing him down. The soldier inside of Steve forces him to bite his lips as hard as he can until he can taste his own blood. Anything is better than screaming! His hands shoot up for her ass and claws at it. His nails dig crescent shapes into her flesh, marking her… It's then Steve realizes how close her ass is to his face... Damn it! She had pulled one of his leg muscles from it's normal place, and she could smell blood in Steve's mouth, but before she could turn around to see his condition, his nails plunged into the flesh of her ass cheeks!

She cried out, the flesh particularly sensitive there as she released his leg, falling off of him to the side, where she knew she needed to do something about his leg before Maria stopped them and put the Captain out for good.

"Sorry, Captain! I'm losing it... I'll ease it up if you give me everything you ve got. I KNOW you have something inside of you that is going to make you stronger than you ve ever been, you just have to trust me..." She hissed back to him quietly so Maria wouldn't hear. She began to smell her own blood as it trickled in tiny streams down her ass.

Xyta: so beautiful, so strong and so caring. It's then he begins to finally understand what she's doing. She's fighting for him...by actually fighting him! It's hard to explain, but everything is clear to him now. Xyta, unlike everyone else, refuses to give up on him! How can he show her his appreciation? He needs to tell her that he understands.

Laying to his side, she quickly dove in under his leg, and shot him a glance, acting like she was diving in to bite it, when in fact her tongue shot out and grazed along his entire quadricep, her saliva seeping into his skin to patch up the torn muscle. Steve smiles down at her. Somewhere in his eyes, he's telling her something. He knows what she's doing. For that, he'll fight back, not just for himself, but for Xyta as well! Suddenly, right when she licked his leg, his thighs will slap shut around her ears! Clomp! His ankles cross together, locking her in place. Then, Steve bridges his steel buns off the grass and squeezes!

What are his eyes saying to her right now as he squeezes her? Also, what thoughts are flooding through his own mind, knowing that she has a beautiful woman trapped between his muscle popping legs? From how he holds her, the masculine hump in his groin presses against her nose and lips! His taut, blue, spandex pants is the only layer that seperates his meaty hill from her face! Yet that doesn't stop her from feeling his heat radiate on her mouth. He'll take a few moments to study her face, then opens his legs to free her! She stumbled back up, blood still dripping down her ass cheeks down her legs and onto the grass beneath her. She pretended to rest on a tree, panting hard while giving Steve a chance to stand and begin fighting again, where he d find no more pain in his leg.

Wow, twice in one day she had healed him, his leg even! She d have to be more careful around them from here on out. She d ease up on Steve until he could get back in the groove. Maria had observed Xyta being rough enough with him to know that she hadn't held back so far, until now. Xyta would still do her best to play off like she was trying, but started to see flickers of the Guardian flame begin to glow inside of the super soldier's bosom...

"Believe, my Captain... You have to believe in yourself!" She called out, not caring if Maria heard her words. Steve deserved to be noted of his rank, and she was willing to call him as such if it meant igniting the glow once and for all... He has to believe in himself! He can fight the serum! Just because he's dying, doesn't mean he can't fight! This is what Xyta had been trying to tell him. This is what he should've believed in all along! He was going to press his advantage to score another hit, but then he notices the red oozing down her legs. He looks down at his hands and watches her blood-blood from her ass…

Xyta's ass.

Suddenly, Steve's mouth starts to drool...

...and here comes a new test: controlling his passions. All of the sudden, the songs of the jungle sound differently. His eyes are a new tone of blue. He sniffs the air just once. The oozing coppery taste from her ass is still fresh. There might be just one part of her that she can use to drive him up another pedestal...

The blood still continued to trickle down her leg, and she actually began to feel ever so lightheaded, causing her to hold the tree for support as her hand came back to spread across her cheek to see how much blood she was actually losing. A lot... More than she thought. Steve's nails had driven deep, and as she looked back to him to see what he was doing, he was staring directly at her rump, drool running down the sides of his mouth as she could see the lust hazing in his eyes.

She could see him fighting it as well. But as her wheels began to turn, she had a thought... What had led Steve to attack her ass when he could have attacked anything else? Why was he looking at it in such a way now? Did he just like butts?

Was this... The thing he needed? The part of her that could set him free? She bent over ever so slightly, as if she found herself weakening, her little clothing pressing against her already damp groin, pulling against the flesh of her rump as blood kept falling. She turned back to Steve with an exhausted expression, and then with a quick wink, she gave him a soft smile that told her that she knew what he needed, and it was right here for him... If he could come get it, that was!

Xyta bends over and her pair of fruit stick out, already leaking its juice and painting her long legs. The air smells for metallic and bitter. The hill in his pants rise and swells until it becomes a slab of curled flesh, bouncing about with every step he makes. When his left foot comes down to pull him closer to her, his that shape jitters, and when his right foot comes down, it still jitters. If he stands up erect, his groin would curve out of his body in a near-perfect half circle.

So many smooth bends on his body; the soft curve of his shoulders, the bends in his bulging calves, his hard glutes, the large swoop of his chest and finally that burning swell behind his blue, hero spandex. When Steve stands still, he looks like breathing calligraphy. Sunlight filters trough the trees and peppers his body in bright, glowing circles. Xyta's blood...from her ass...on his hands. Steve's mind breaks down the phenomena into three seperate words.

Suddenly, Steve sprints for the thing Xyta has that wets his mouth, but what also can be the same thing used against him! Beautiful, thick things can be beautiful, thick weapons. Steve runs for Xyta, leaving himself wide open, and as he gets closer, that Wide Shot of her body zooms into a Medium Closeup, then finally, an Extreme Closeup of her rear, ripe, fat and leaking-like water running off the curve of an apple. He's blind to anything else she can try. When he reaches her, his big shoulder rams into her slender back, pinning her between his meaty mountains and the sharp tree barks! He grabs one of her arms, bends it and folds it against her back! Xyta is arrested and pinned to the tree!

"You alright?" Steve pants into her ear as his package dangles and grazes against her bleeding rump. Even after all of this, Steve still shows his concern for Xyta. It doesn't matter if she answers, however. She could utter a "yes" or a "no", once Steve grabs her hair, he violently pulls her back and shoves her face into the tree! Thwok! Silly Captain, always caring about the other person. She can feel the cracks in her nose as he did so, but she loved it! He was showing her pain as the bulge from his spandex pressing onto her ass cheeks, throbbing mercilessly as Xyta strained to not reach back and touch it.

She let out a scream of pain with every thwomp against the tree, followed by a satisfied growl to the Captain. But then he yanked against her underwear, pulling the leopard skin up into her slit until the skin showed every definition of her maidenhood. It hurt, badly. Now it was getting personal, but then she had an idea…

"So… you wanna play that game, huh?"

Bending back against him so her cheeks opened up to take the curve of his clothed manhood, she raised a flexible leg and wrapped it around his waist, and then she stood back up and pulled him with her, so the bulge was stuck right in her ass cheeks! She flexed her round, powerful glutes as hard as she could, crushing his erection into the place he seemed to be most infatuated with right now. She heard the strangled screams coming from his lips, and she grinned in triumph, the heat and essence of the jungle taking them both as they fought for, and against each other!

Just like the beautiful and deadly Venus Flytrap of the jungle, her ass cheeks part and claps around his heavy bulge! Xyta's ass flexes. Steve's member throbs back. Their fight had reduced to the mere parts of them silently struggling against each other! Every flex she makes feels like two, smooth rocks grinding against his hardening girth. Inside his spandex, veins pop all over his length. Xyta's ass clenches him tight, stopping blood flow and making his tip swell blue from lack of circulation! His masculinity is suffocating near her tenders, and the only thing that manages to slither out of his tip is a small drool of liquid.

W-what is she doing to him? What is this...thing that climbs up his chest from within? Steve wheezes like a weak, neighing horse. She's smiling. He can't see it on her face, but he can smell the evil glee from behind her. It's just as strong as the smell of blood leaking from her cheeky vice. Would she still be smiling if one of his tree trunk-thick arms wraps around her neck!?

He'll find out as her neck is suddenly trapped between his bulging bicep and steel forearm, forcing her to listen to the sounds of her own short breaths and the creaks of his muscle fibers stretching taut, as he squeezes her harder! They're choking each other not just because they believe in each other. Their mutual faith stems from the underlying fact that they also need each other. Xyta is trying to draw out the hero from within, the hero who can save her home.

"I'll s-save you Xyta...I s-swear!"

Steve stutters into her ear. In his tone of agony, there are words of bold truth. And these same words had birthed from a new resolution: not the S.H.I.E.L.D. nor the Avengers can define Justice. It's the raw bravery and duty of its people that defines Justice! Colonel Fury, heed his words: Africa will be saved! With one arm choking her, another hand crawls down her stomach and slips inside the brim of her underwear. He already knows what her heart is saying to him, but what about her body? No! Is this right, as a Captain, to do this? Both of their bodies are hidden behind a tree, away from where Maria's one-sided glass can view the action.

Precum and blood wets the crotch of his pants, and as the seconds of body heat tick by, his loins become a damp and heavy ball between his legs, oozing out a sweet and copper smell. All it takes is a small whiff of it for his eyes to darken a new tone of blue! In a moment of loss, his hand dives into her underwear and shovels up her crotch in his palm, feeling her, poking her. At the same time, a powerful buck of his hips will shove her face into the tree, then again, and yet another thrust! Thwomp-thwomp-thwak! That last impact sounds sicker than the first two.

Out of mind, Steve's eyes flutter. His groin swells harder, rising like yeast between her thick globes of ass! He feels it! His pearls tighten and tuck up. His length twitches once more. The inevitable rush of hot nectar is coming, and as much as he needs this, he can't bring himself to explode! Out of respect and duty, he'll deny himself, even if it means suffering just like Wolverine did. Between her ass, where pleasure becomes pain, Steve will grunt and silently plead something that his lips will never utter, just because he respects Xyta too much.

Steve is hurting...

It was enough to melt the woman's hardened heart. Xyta completely fell for Steve as he still upheld his promise to save her and her home, the glow in his soul burning to the brim! Xyta soon lost all reasoning thought and fell over the edge of ecstatic passion, the fire in her groin to much to restrain anymore.

She could have said no and shoved him off of her and ended the fight, but she couldn't… she wouldn't. She needed him, right here right now. This wasn't like with Logan, where the hatred was present and passions were too high to handle. Here, there was love. Oh, yes, a connection that was established between the two warriors as they fought to build each other up, fighting for a cause bigger than them.

She could feel something wet in her ass as Steve was leaking something, and from the coppery smell, she knew what it was. She was hurting him in a way she had never intended to hurt him… and then his fingers began to probe at her untouched entrance! Steve was touching her!

"Rogers… Cap- Captain…" she moaned, half of her begging him to stop but the other begging him to continue. She could feel him trembling as he restrained to hold back an evident building orgasm… but Xyta couldn't let him release it without letting him partake of her… intimately. He still held his sense of duty and held back for sake of respecting her. He had to know that he didn't have to hold himself back anymore… that she would give up everything she had and more because he was so willing to save something that could possibly end his life.

"Steve… put it inside of me… I give you the greatest gift I can give… to repay you for what you've done for me…"

She didn't even bother to hear his response, because she released his manhood from her cheeks, reached down to yank his pants down, freeing his cock with a wet shlick from the spandex, snatching it into her hand and pumping him up and down, wanting to pleasure him and thank him… for what he had so unselfishly promised to do… for her home… for her.

This was not the same as with Wolverine. Xyta was going to give herself to Steve with eagerness and with thanks, needing him… wanting him.

Just as Steve's member springs free and hits Xyta's thigh, he exhales loudly in a mix of joyous freedom and relief. Then his sigh cuts short when Xyta's hand wraps around him and tugs. That same hand that had balled into a fist and fed him pain, is now enveloped around him, hugging his size and pulling his passions free. Her stormy white eyes tell him to let go. Her bottom lip droops. They may have hidden from the Training Room's control panel, but the sun sees all. Right now, a warm downpour of yellow light paints her brown hair a deep fiery orange. Once that same light sheds down on Steve's already blonde hair, the sun's rays bounces off, illustrating a pseudo, angelic glow.

Finally, there is something stronger than the serum poisoning his body: his will to die for her home. This hot desire is now set in cold, hard stone. A hand reaches around and massages her blood stained ass, kneading, twisting and shaping her ample flesh with his hands. At the same time, Steve's length rides the gentle rise and fall of her hand. This is perfect-too perfect. His eyes beg her to keep going as they both listen to the sweet rhythm of wet friction and panting breaths. He looks down at his passionate rod, poking her thigh while her hands milk what he holds inside.

This...this has never happened before. Never had he imagined himself being taken by a strong woman inside the Avenger Mansion. Even through the whiteness in her eyes, he can sense the pain of loss within her. Her family, the people she loves, are gone. Her exterior is tougher than the tree bark they are hiding behind, and even as durable as rhinoceros skin. However, underneath all of that is an empty woman. She cares a lot for her jungle, but who cares for her? Who shows her the love she desperately needs again? That love she needs is now throbbing behind his chest.

All he wants Xyta to do is keep stroking him. Please, never release him. His blue spandex had been yanked down past his knees. His firmly sculpted ass is reflected on the undulating waves of a pond behind them. Between his sharply chiseled thighs, his orbs sway and dangle with every pump her hand makes. Steve bites his lip and gazes in her eyes. She can see it in his ocean blues… the passion, the desire… and the love. She could see right there into his very soul, a bridge had formed between the two in the heat of passion. Destiny. There couldn't have been any other answer for the phenomena that was occurring between the two warriors.

Her tender hand and his throbbing phallus had formed one bridge of contact. The other bridge is formed with his hands molding new shapes with her ass meat. But why stop there? She kept pumping and stroking him, where he found a rhythm bucking softly into her hands, knowing that he couldn't stop now. The soft yellow light cast colors on them as they hid from Maria's prying eyes, the pond behind them glittering in the sun. It was so serene and so perfect, just how nature designed everything, regardless of only being a simulation. It was a simulation from her world. It was the Garden of Eden, the man and the woman, designed by God to come together as one flesh in the beauty of His creations.

Steve leans his mouth into hers and gives her a taste of his Thank You. His kiss is angled as he leans his head on one side. Neither of them can do much behind the tree, than can only cover so much! She responded willingly and gave the soldier her first kiss, moving her tongue against his own as she closed her eyes and submitted to him fully, something potent and hot seeping from her own bosom, up her chest, from her throat to her lips, and into the Captain! She lost herself in the kiss as she turned so she could press her chest into his own as she released him and flung her arms around his neck, standing on her toes to reach his tall frame as she kissed him wildly.

She could feel his very emotions pouring out into her mind, that he wanted to fill the gap she had been carrying all these years, that gap of love that she had been missing… his heart beat for her, and all this time, and she didn't know it until now, that her heart had been beating for him. She then realized what she had to do. The only way that her mentor had been able to unlock the Glow within Xyta was by sacrificing herself and giving away to destiny. She had to do that now, for Steve. She had to let go and give him all she had, and he would be freed from the poison that weakened him even now.

But as she did so, she felt her bosom begin to burn, until the sensation spread throughout her entire body, something within her that healed and strengthened her broken and shredded heart, filling the emptiness and loneliness she had been feeling her entire life. Destiny. She had found her other half in Steve, found the one that nature had designed for her to be with.

Xyta had released his member so she can throw her arms around his neck, and even though she had to share the kiss with him to make the feelings mutual, his member was left in cold abandon. Steve's length twitches in the cool, empty air, threatening to burst when it dangles there, all by itself. His tip flushes red, nearly on its verge! No, not like this. Why? Steve clenches his bottom lip and uses whatever mental strength he has left to fight back his seed. But Xyta's full lips on his mouth, and her round bosoms pressing on his chest, are too much! His orgasm will be ruined.

Pain. It hurt Steve having to cross that bridge halfway to reaching his happy place, only to have its strings loosen so he can plunge into an empty pit. Maybe this is what Xyta wanted. Maybe she didn't want him to release in here. The timing must've been wrong for her. But why drive him so far? Steve doesn't understand. The moans he make inside of their kiss is painfull and needy before he breaks the embrace, panting. Molten passion had filled him up to his brim and instead of pouring out, his hot sap cools and stales, like a spoiled volcanic eruption.

It's then he suddenly realizes why: Steve is still a Captain. Xyta must've known that this is wrong. How stupid of him. "I'm s-so sorry...so sorry.." Steve breathes on her. "For what? For what, Steve?!" she hissed with a hint of sorrow in her voice, holding his face back to hers so she could look into his eyes.

Maybe what Xyta has done was for the best, but even what's right for him, still aches him badly. His duties as a role model for the team comes before his selfish desires. How could he have lost sight of that?

Steve wants to look into her white eyes again, but he fears he'd look up and face his own shame. She had released him so suddenly, but he understands her decision. He'll let her know that with a shaky nod.

"Nnnhh..."

His hand wraps around his girth and he'll choke himself, trying to stifle his cum from spurting out. His vision spins and blurs, making nature look like a confused swirl of lush green, shining yellow and sparkling blue, all before his eyes. No… no! What was going on? Confusion made her head spin as she watched him once again try to restrain himself, his climax. When the thought hit her that she had deprived him of that climax, her heart sunk.

In a panic, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him back to face her, clasping either sides of his jaw, her face dangerously close to his. With a low growl, she dug deeper into him and could tell he was restraining because he still had his sense of duty, his sense of being honorable for the team and being an example. Xyta understood that. But she had wronged him, and she was determined to make things right again.

"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do…" she crooned into his face, looking desperately into his eyes, wanting him to know that she was sorry for leaving him hanging like that and she was going to follow the Golden Rule and right her wrong.

Before he could say anything, she dove to her knees, swiftly kissing down his neck, chest and abdomen before coming to his meat and slapping his hand away, shoving his whole length into her mouth! It tore and popped a few muscles in her mouth but she could care less. She rapidly began to move up and down his huge and erect girth, her fingers crawling beneath his inner thigh and cradling his grenades with the pistol shoved down her throat. Her tongue wrapped itself around the girth, she using some of her power to extend her tongue ever so slightly so it could wrap around him.

She wasn't about to deprive him of a release again and make him restrain himself for her and for others who doubted him. She had the best intentions in mind as Xyta blew Captain America, a tear falling down the side of her cheek as she desired so desperately to make him feel good, to make him feel strong again…

He would've thought no less of her even if she denied him. Cum may be thicker than water, but not thicker than the bonds of true love. Wait, love? Yes. Love. Steve loves this woman. He loves her! Just as his spirit hangs lifelessly on the edge, nearly falling into despair, Xyta is that extra hand he needs to save his life. Even the Great American Eagle can't soar as high as it can without the wind current to carry it.

Xyta's lips wetly seal over his length and lovingly invites him into her hot, damp world. At the same time, his heavy pearls are cradled in her hands. When he had first met Xyta, she was fiesty, daring and spiteful. Now, she's swallowing every inch of him. Amazing how quickly things can change in such a short time. Even more amazing how a man can fall in the depths of love faster than a sinking anchor. She's got her Captain and he wouldn't dream of drifting off anywhere.

Steve leans his head back and lets the sounds envelop him: the chirping birds, the rustling trees, the running waters, and the wet shlops and gurgles of Xyta sucking him. It doesn't take long for his body to smolder and reach a sizzling point. His brain shuts down, and in its place, his nerves burst alive. Everything, from the slightest tug her mouth makes, to the gentlest squeeze on his orbs, makes him squirm and moan, just how Xyta likes it. Her Captain is on the edge, humming in the lowest key for her ears to relish. Such control she has over the super soldier-it's unlike anything he has ever felt before.

Steve feels himself climbing higher. He's so close that he's afraid to say a word in fear of him shouting from the sheer power of his pending burst. Xyta doesn't have to cry anymore. Her Captain is here forever. He'd hate to break her concentration, but while she continues to suck him, there's one more thing she needs to hear.

"I love you…"

Three simple words is all he can manages to utter before a trickle of precum oozes into her mouth! Steve can only hope that Xyta doesn't break her mouth from his phallus this time. If she does, his entire world will fall on top of him! After he releases, he'll make sure that their loins will join together and dance to the sounds of the jungle! He'll pronounce his love by driving himself into her depths, then. Right now, Steve just needs a little more of her mouth.

Wait...

Could it be? That's it! The serum had been acting up and poisoning his body from overuse, but this sexual power she's feeding him seems to counteract it! But how? Could it be from the intense blood flow that her lips are causing with every tug? Maybe this strong circulation is cleansing and rejuvenating his used up body? Suddenly, everything in the world makes sense! Her sucking lips are slowly healing him! Captain America surely needs her now!

"Don't stop...don't..." Steve pleads.

It was all she needed to hear before she went even harder down on him, using her inhuman speed to keeping sucking him off and keep him going. Love. Love was what they shared, here and now. Others would have looked upon their act and thought how disgusting they were, but this was an act of service and of affection.

But what bewildered her even further was when she suddenly felt an energy begin to burst through him, cleanse him of the poison that was threatening to end his life! The glow! It all made sense to Xyta as she continued to feed him this sexual energy, it was the key that was going to purge the illness and replace it with something he never knew he needed. She relished in his moans and gasps, any noise he made was music to her ears as the wet gurgling noises of her mouth came sweeping across his enormous meat.

She continues to feel the energy getting stronger, as a drop of his seed falls down her throat, like a frozen faucet that is being heated to melt the ice, slowly beginning to drip, but would soon be flowing water like a river! She moans into him, sending vibrations through his groin. She can't stop now, he needs her… and she needs him.

He was growing close, she could feel it by the trembling and throbbing of his cock pulsating in her mouth and throat, but it only makes her go faster. She didn't even care if Maria Hill saw them doing this. Let the world see that she was healing and pleasing the man who saved the world, more than once.

As she went harder than ever before, her psyche flowed into his own in a daze of bliss and connection, a bridge forming between their thoughts as the Glow threatened to burst from him, and she swore she heard his voice in her mind, his thoughts… his thoughts of love and of thanks, of rejoice and need… had they connected mentally? Was this a factor of the glow? It didn't matter. Connecting her mind waves with his own, she answered him with sureness and confidence, containing even a little bit of her fierceness, all her…

_For you, my love… I will never stop…_


	5. I'm Yours Now

If love can take form of something that Xyta can feel, smell and taste, it'll come in a strong blast down her throat, just like it is now! Shloosh! The sounds of rushing hot seed flooding into her tight, wet, mouthy canal. The blast is strong enough to drive him back just a step, but no where near enough to break her lippy seal on him. As he cums, his muscular chest heaves out an amorous roar, long and drawn out, almost as lengthy as his continuous, sweet stream!

Where there are breaks in his voice, it's where his last shot of cum had ended. After another string shoots into her mouth, he spends the remaining spurts in silence. Quietly, his hips heave out short splashes of nectar until his last one. Then, he finally stops and hunches foward. His shoulder hits the tree, behind them, keeping him from falling. Right underneath the tree's shade, he will spend a moment to recover, panting while expecting Xyta to bless his ears with sounds of her milking and drinking him dry. He poured much down into her, and his screams were pure music to her ears as her body began to burn off his masculine gravy into energy that boiled into her bloodstream and made her heart begin to pound.

She wiped some of the seed off of her face as she kneeled in front of him, placing her hands on her hips and looking a lot happier-and much more beautiful- than she had ever been. So much had been shared within the last few hours of Xyta ever knowing Steve, and it was perfectly clear to them both how much they were truly meant to be. Destiny worked in the strangest ways.

The gentleman that he is, he'll wait for Xyta to finishing swallowing him before helping her up. Once he takes a look at her new face, Steve will smile. Xyta had always been beautiful, but she's even prettier with his cum dripping from her chin. His index finger brushes a strand of hair from her face. He needs another good look at the features of the woman who needs him.

"Live the rest of your life in no more fear…"

They exchanged more precious oxygen as he pulled off her underwear, her voluptuous breasts bouncing free and her fresh and eager maidenhood glistening with arousal. He tossed them away into the pond as he kicked off the pants that dangled around his ankles. They now stood naked and ready for their union, but Xyta still couldn't help but feel a little scared as Steve lifted her flexible leg and draped it across his shoulder, opening her core to him. Nervousness collected in her belly as she took either sides of his face, worry etched across her iceberg blues.

A baboon call rustles the trees in the distance.

It's time.

She found something awakening within her, an energy that made her very soul flame up in response, preparing her for what came next… when the man and the woman became one flesh, when Steve Rogers…no, when Captain America took her virginity.

They exchanged more precious oxygen as he pulled off her underwear, her voluptuous breasts bouncing free and her fresh and eager maidenhood glistening with arousal. He tossed them away into the pond as he kicked off the pants that dangled around his ankles. They now stood naked and ready for their union, but Xyta still couldn't help but feel a little scared as Steve lifted her flexible leg and draped it across his shoulder, opening her core to him. Nervousness collected in her belly as she took either sides of his face, worry etched across her iceberg blues.

"Steve… please be gentle… f-first time…" she stammered as he pressed her back against the tree. It was indeed time for them, the world around them their only witness as to what happened here. But Xyta found herself curious about something, so she inquired of Steve as he mentally prepared himself.

But with whatever Steve would say, she would only smile and offer herself up, ready to become one with the man she needed, the man who needed her, the man who could save everything she ever knew.

"I love you… Captain…"

"Xyta..."

Steve can't speak. No words can be said. He...he just can't say anything. A part of him almost sheds a tear, but he'll hold it back. A soldier can only cry when freedom finally prevails. Until then, a man's work is never done. He loves this woman too much to not treat her as tenderly as she desires. If anyone will ever see him tear just once, it'll be Xyta. But just once and not another drop, simply because he's a man. Are his views of being a man typical? Of course: he's not from this time period. One can call Steve too traditional, and that would be just fine.

She looked into Steve's tender eyes, watching them quiver ever so slightly as he fought to keep tears back. Xyta only smiled at him as a tear fell from her eye, cupping his face softly with her hand, tracing his square jawline with her palm, inhaling his masculine scent as it only made her drip with excitement.

Now, underneath this tree, in a world that looks like her own home, Steve is going to take his time before he'll make her cry as well. Steve lets one tear roll down his sharp features just so Xyta can see. That will be his response to her request. There will be no more questions asked from this moment on. Just the two of them. Saying "I love you" has worn out its impact.

Steve leans in and kisses her madly, biting her upper lip and cramming his face into hers! Will she forgive him for acting so brutishly? Steve needs Xyta to understand just how much-no. Forget it. No more talking. In the words of Logan: "Words only lie".

His crown grazes through her folds, not daring to enter her just yet. She needs to know what he feels like, first. What it feels like to have a soldier claim her body. The featherlight contact alone is enough to make his head drool over her rosey pedals as he teases her. Now, with his soaked length in hand, he continues to brush his precum glazed head around her, painting her fleshy gates with his wet translucency.

How is she reacting to all of this? Is he going too slow? Does she need him to keep going? Steve won't stop until his precum lathers over her lips, dressing her in a glistening, polished finish.

"Have… have you ever done this before?" she asked nervously, her whole body trembling softly as she thought about what was going to happen, watching the glow within his bosom pulsating, almost ready to burst but not open quite enough to be set free.

"No. I ain't done this before, neither…"

She can rest easy knowing that she'll be his first and only one. He can't help but smile at her. For such a woman with a bold, fiery attitude, he would have never imagined her a virgin. At the same time, one couldn't have expected a decorated super soldier to be one as well.

No words were needed anymore. Their relationship could go on forever without words, only their bodies communicating messages without the pain that words can bring. Logan had spoken true: words only lie. Xyta knew how much Steve wanted her to know... How much he loved her. Their newly established mental connection allowed her to hear some thoughts that passed through him. He would know that she was his and his only, and was destined to be with him, and how much she truly loved him.

He began to rub his leaking head around the skin that protected her entrance, and she moaned out very whorishly, and he wasn't even inside yet! He was taking it carefully as to not hurt her, and savor their first time.

Her heart sang... They would be able to enter this state of one flesh together, neither one of the warriors having been in such a state before. It kind of surprised her to know he was still a virgin, being who he was. She didn't want to think about any women who have had a relationship with him or who threw their bodies at him just to get a taste of the soldier.

No... He was hers and hers alone. Xyta would mark her property and claim her destiny, and the man within it. The thought of having Steve all to herself made Xyta's nervousness completely vanish, and replaced it with a passionate female in heat who was ready to breed.

She was ready.

"Steve..." She groaned, a sexy territorial growl mixed into the whorish moans she was giving him, her cunny dripping like a fountain.

"Take me."

His passing tear held a message that she understood.

Steve holds one of her legs that rests on his shoulder. It's amazing to see how many different degrees she can bend herself. He had first witnessed this when her leg had wrapped around his waist to pull him into her clenching ass cheeks, during their fight. Now they are against the same tree in a new pose.

A hand reaches down and cups an ass cheek, then his glistening, wet crown plunges into her love chasm! Pain… earth-shattering pain… Xyta clenches her teeth as Steve initiates his first angry thrust, and it took everything she had not to scream and blow him across the room into the wall. The first sopping thrust asserts his anger, the second thrust proclaims his fears of dying, the third one shoves his hopes and dreams inside of her, and each one, after that, is a swear of his love for her! Each push into her chasm is a slow, sliding entry, taking his time and feeling her out. His eyes communicate his concerns. Is he going too hard? Should let he finally let go?

Xyta had never experienced pain like this… to have a muscle rope deep within her to be torn by the sudden entrance of Steve. It's natural for his inexperienced body to feel himself a perfect fit inside of her. Every inch of her feels like she had been designed just for him; the only phallus in the world to finally complete the puzzle that is Xyta. Suddenly, his hips break into a faster pace. His steel, blue eyes never leave hers. He doesn't want Xyta to ever break eye contact with him. Her optics are only made for looking into his hues while he shoves every ounce of his emotions into her. Soon, she'll be able to finally understand the man behind the spangled shield!

His tempo then gets violent! Each buck harshly pushes her back against the tree! Twirling leaves fall from the above and lands in between the naked lovers as his once gentle nudges grow into strong poundings. His eyes still carry his love's glimmer, yet they are also empty with complete abandon! His passion punches inside of her, rocking the tree and shaking out its leaves!

At the same time, his groping hand slithers up and searches her ass. Memories of her sitting on his chest, bending over for him, trapping his length, and even her ass bleeding out, montage in his mind. Now his curious hand will finally explore this part of her that had constantly haunted their battle. His glare is unwavering, eager to see the reaction in her face as his hand invites itself into her rear.

Is this strong, brave woman a screamer? Or is she the type to sink her teeth into something to prevent herself from making a sound? Steve will soon find out as he thrusts ram her into the tree repeatedly. The only time he'll break eye contact is when he suddenly dives into her neck and bites her! She roars to the ceiling. At the same time, his groping hand squeezes more blood out of the wounds on her ass, if they hadn't closed already. If they had, his nails will sink into her fleshy hills to reopen them! It isn't long before Xyta becomes a toy for her captain, getting stabbed harshly, juiced for her blood and being bitten at the same time! She kept her hands braced across his back as her nails clawed into his own flesh, marking him as he was marking her.

With a few more thrusts, each a confession of something that had been buried deep within him, poisoning him from the inside; her body accustomed to him, and the pain soon turned into earth healing pleasure. He filled her in all the right ways, and her quiet whimpers of pain soon flowed into loud whorish moans, all the while the captain released his deeply hidden inner beast.

What… what was this? This sensation exploding through her body? Was it Steve's love? Was it just her body's reaction to finally being whole again after being empty for so long? It was everything. For an inexperienced man, Steve knew exactly what he was doing. Locking her eyes with him again, she nodded, begging him to go faster. His thrusts began to pick up the pace, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and held her fingers together to keep herself on earth. She studied his glowing spheres and never looked away, a thousand words exchanged between the two without uttering a single remark. With his first few quicker thrusts, Xyta finally understood the man behind the shield, the man behind the soldier's gaze.

Steve had turned into an animal, treating her as such, and in a sick, twisted way, she loved it! His sadistic nature completely turned her on as he continued to stab, bite, and poke away into her. Her roar turned back into loud, sexy moans as she begged him to keep going, loving this side of him! Animalistic, instinctual, and passionate! Everything she ever knew and loved packed into the man who now took her virginity.

But as her captain treated her as his territory, he couldn't get away with her not being able to treat him as such! Closing her eyes, she opened her fangs and plunged them into his shoulder, drawing his own blood from him as he did her, the two completely animalistic human beings marked each other and claimed their mates for life. Shhp! The hissing noises of her sharp canines sinking into his shoulder fill his ears! Her teeth dives deep, tearing through muscle and causing blood to billow out from the wound! Captain is bleeding over himself, and it was that extra stimuli that pushes him over the edge. He cums inside her a second time! In that instant, his thrusts stop, and he just stands there, spasmsing out strong gushes of seed. Every new spurt forces him to twitch and thrust into her at the same time, and after the spurt is over, he relaxes again. For as long as he can keep shooting inside of her, he'll stand as strongly as a mountain for her raised leg to relax against. This way, all she has to do is rest against the tree and feel Captain empty himself inside her. After pushing out his last drop, Steve silently looks at his own blood painted shoulder, her eyes, then slumps forward against her, panting and hurting. She holds him with as much strength as she could muster, kissing his hair.

Battle bruises come back at the worst time, just when they had finished bonding. All of her punches and kicks return as throbbing pain in all of the spots he had been hit. Now, he also has a bleeding shoulder to add to it all. It's not Xyta'a fault she bit him. It's just that all of this potent energy had went to his brain and robbed him of his self control. For that quick moment, he felt animalistic-like Logan. However, being an animal just isn't Steve. He's a gentle lover. He'll prove that by looking up at her while licking the blood that had ran down her leg.

"I'm sorry, Xyta...sorry..." Steve confesses as he bleeds out of his shoulder. "What for, Steve…?" she moaned, her leg relaxing from having been bent for so long. The sun shines down on him, making him Xyta's glowing, chivalrous knight. It's Steve's duty as a man. But before he could hurt any longer, a soft, wet muscle laps up his shoulder like a thirsty animal. Turning his head, Xyta cleans his wound like a mother to it's pup. He smiles once she's complete, his skin healing up, the blood flow ceasing. He spins her around so her back is facing him, then he'll kneel down , then kiss and lick the open wounds on her ass! Xyta's blood is now all over his lips and chin, yet he still licks her cheeks clean! Knowing he's taking care of her makes him a happy man, until he takes his first sniff. He pauses.

Once again, Steve's eyes darken another shade of blue as he slowly inches his face into her ass. As his nose wedges in between her cheeks, he'll suck in a long, loud breath! Peaches, strawberries, a freshly bloomed rose; these are the smells that his mind registers her natural scent as. He needs more! She groans above him, her voice hoarse from her screaming. Both of his hands slap her ass cheeks and spreads them for his nose to dive in deeper. That small, pink button between Xyta's cheeks had created a magical pull on Steve's face, as the pointed tip of his nose makes its achingly slow draw to her puckered flower! Once his nose's tip grazes her most hidden muscle, he smells once more, and instantly, his length fills with a new strength!

"Steve… gods, Steve!" she cried, finally screaming out the words she had been holding in as she braced herself against the tree with her busty mounds shoved against the bark, blood trickling from her shoulder where he had bitten her, the pain was faint now as the pleasure of his skin in her ass overlapped it.

Then the intercom breaks.

"That's enough...that's enough...you two get ready...ready to leave…"

Maria Hill's voice pants in between words. She sounds fatigued and one can almost envision the sweat on her face as she keeps breathing hard into the microphone.

"I'll give you five minutes to get dressed. I'll give positive word to Colonel Fury."

After that, the intercom shuts off. The bird cries, baboon calls and the hot winds cease. Their big, protective tree disappears, and the rest of Africa fizzles away. Xyta is now back in an empty room, forged from cold steel walls and ceiling lights, with a still hard Steve. At first, there was everything. And now there was nothing. He's embarrassed, but not for the same reasons Xyta may be. Without saying a word, he paces over to where her clothes lay, picks it up and stares. He can still smell faint trails of her ass on his face. Has he really gone too far? This...animal inside of him isn't what he's used to.

Xyta felt Steve leave her side and she couldn't help but feel a moment of pure exposure and abandon as she covered herself, one arm pulled across her chest and the other across her newly initiated womanhood, which still glistened with love fluids.

Steve walks back to Xyta and drapes her shirt back over her. His length stands hard enough to reach and prod her thigh as he stands before her. Today, the once gentle lover discovered something about himself. Xyta had showed him the gateway to his deepest perversions, and once he had stepped in, all that's needed was a simple tease to pull him back out so he can question his decision. Steve loves her to death, but if he had crossed a line, he'll do his best to respect her.

"Xyta..."

Steve lets her name hang. It's then he remembers the wounds on her neck. Immediatly, his eyes blink wetly and he smothers her neck in kisses, swallowing his sorrows while spilling his love all over her bloody wounds. This time, he's fighting back his strong lusts for her derrière as he keeps his hands on her shoulders. Even as smells from her rear are so strong he can taste it on his tongue, he'll keep his retraints for his callipygian lover.

She wastes no time in throwing her arms around him, pressing herself into his still stiff erection as she fervently kissed over the shoulder she had wounded, up his neck, across his jawline and to his lips. Her mind connects with his and she hears all of his concerns. He worried that he had gone too far with her, and when she broke her kiss, she just looked back at him with tears of joy threatening to spill from her eyes. She shook her head with her hair flowing out from around her entire torso, giggling almost girlishly.

"Don't worry about me, Steve. I'm yours to do with what you wish." She said looking straight into his eyes and telling him the whole truth. She hugged herself closely into him and inhaled his lovely scent, his warmth a shelter in the drafty cold of the training room.

"The animal inside of you needed to be set free, even just for a moment... It was a beautiful thing, love... You are everything I've ever needed..." She crooned, tracing the shape of his gorgeous pectorals with her fingers, wanting to encourage him and rid him of his embarrassment.

He had no reason to be ashamed. He had still been able to control himself even after setting free the beast building up on the inside, something hardly anyone ever came back from. She loved him and he had no borders to cross with her, she was an open plain for him to ravage and love. She projected these thoughts into his mind, wanting him to build himself back up and be who he needed to be.

"I love you, my Captain... And no matter what happens, I always will."

His concerns vanish along with her reassuring words. While his heart leaps to the heavens, his hand dives down behind her and strums the clenched entrance to her rear opening. He looks into her eyes to see her reaction as he plays with her. Perhaps...perhaps this animal side of him isn't so bad after all. If Xyta loves him for it, then he'll embrace it! He can only hope that he won't go too far in the near future.

"Ahem...Captain...Xyta...please! P-please...get out now!"

Maria Hill pleads. Her glossy lips sputters out in a soft, tender agony. Is she alright?

"Let's go." Steve kisses her lips and spends the next few minutes helping her get dressed. When Steve picks up her leopard underwear, he notices that they're still wet! Wasn't the pond supposed to be part of the illusion? Steve looks around him, then looks back at Xyta. Someday he might have a talk with Professor Xavier. Maybe they will. That'll be for another day. It had been a dream, no… a revelation to Xyta. She no longer felt the emptiness that had embittered her for so many years, now she was full, blissful, and for the first time in years… happy. Yes, she was happy… happy that she had found her destiny with Steve. Africa still mattered to her, but Steve now mattered more.

Once they had gotten dressed, both of them are outside the Training Room. Xyta might be keeping herself well composed, but Steve's arousal is almost too obvious in his spandex. Even as he stands outside the Training Room, her lowly smells still haunts him. Making love to her was dreamlike, but it seemed that he had woken up too soon!? Steve can smell her on himself, but what about everyone else? Even worse, as long as her scent stays on his tongue, he remains achingly rigid! This isn't good. Steve needs to explode. He needs her again! God...

"So...I've heard some good things about you, Rogers."

Fury saunters down the hall with his hands behind his back and satisfaction on his face. Maria Hill follows behind him, trying her best to look as composed as her colonel is. Her face is damp, her hair has a few loose ends, and her front zipper is partly open. Had Maria been… while they…? Immediatley, Steve stands behind Xyta to hide his erection.

"Um..Colonel! Welcome back."

"So Lieutenant Hill told me everything."

"Everything?"

"Indeed. Xyta was putting a whoopin' on you badly. But you managed to pull through! Better than Logan did, at least."

"...that's it?"

"Yes. Why?" Fury narrows his eyes. Steve looks at Hill. She bats an eyelash.

"Uh, yes, colonel!" Steve recovers himself. "I was...you know. Feeling the scars. Xyta is tough. Great ass..no, wait..asset to the team!"

Steve stumbles over his words. Maria Hill slaps her forehead and rolls her eyes. Xyta could only giggle. She smiled and kept her eyes on Fury, not wanting to give away that they had been fucking mercilessly in their trial only minutes before. While Fury and Rogers spoke, Xyta exchanged unspoken words with Maria, raising a brow while looking down at her partially unzipped pants. Maria followed her gaze and blushed cherry red, quickly doing them up while Xyta gave her a soft smile, and a thank you for covering them.

"Sir… Captain Rogers has displayed heroic courage that I have not seen anywhere else. You witnessed Wolverine and myself fighting back in Africa, you saw that we nearly tore each other to pieces, and I nearly killed him, until you stepped in. Rogers did not waver. I struck him with everything I had, that didn't affiliate with my powers, and he still stands, unbroken and strong." She explained, gesturing her hand back to Steve without turning around and exposing what he was trying to hide.

"I am also pleased to say… that the Guardian Glow has been seen, and the poisonous properties in the serum now affect him no longer," she proclaimed with a smile, folding her arms triumphantly, resisting the urge to push her ass back against Steve, just to tease him. There would be time for that later. First, business needed to be taken care of.

Fury raises an eyebrow.

"Cured huh?"

The way Fury says it, the word just doesn't sound right in his mouth. He's doubting the whole premise of Steve buring 'cured'. It's obvious. As much as an optimist Fury would love to be, he's more of a realist. He looks at Maria, who doesn't return any eye contact.

"Well, lieutenant, did you find anything from your analysis that supports Xyta's...'Glow'?'"

Maria Hill pouts, holding a notepad close to her chest. She takes a deep breath and pours out:

"After the Super Soldier project, the serum had fused with your body on a molecular level. The serum isn't a part of you, Captain. The serum IS you. It's what you are. To 'cure' something is an act rooted in the assumption that you have a condition. Your 'condition' is just the process of aging"'

"So you're saying that I'm..."

"...curing you is impossible because there's no sickness. You're simply old. Your body is wearing out, Captain. You're...still an old man. The serum...just hides it."

It hurt Maria Hill to say it, but as a lieutenant, it's in her place to state hard facts. She's right. Steve is an old man from the 1920s. The reason why he isn't wearing bags under his eyes while walking with a limp is all because of this...science experiment. His youth is a facade. The serum is just a broken mirror, and if one ever pieces the glass back together, it'd show an old Irish man from the depression era, tired, balding and gaunt-damn near skinless. This is the real Steven Rogers, the man without the scientific wizardry. It's who he is inside.

She had expected Fury and Maria to doubt any "cure"... But she knew better. She knew for a fact that Steve's aging had inflicted the overuse of the serum, causing his body to weaken. But she could hear... No... FEEL his heart pounding like a drum.

He was perfection, and no matter what happened, she would never leave his side. She could feel, smell, taste, possibly touch the radiation glowing within him. Because of her senses, she could see it, which was why everyone else had a hard time believing in her magic.

She knew she and Steve would be able to live a long happy life together. Destiny had foretold it. When her mentor passed on, she was over 700 years old. Xyta was confident that they could outlive many centuries of change and hostility, saving the world together. She still worried about what Steve thought about all this...

But he doesn't care.

"And? So when are we leaving for Africa?"

Steve looks at the everyone with a straight face. Fury smiles wide for the first time in decades. He too is an old man, out of time. But age means nothing when it houses a strong heart! Not the kind of strength that comes with youth, but the power in knowing right from wrong! Fury had been a fool to even consider holding Steve back from the mission.

"Captain..." Fury speaks up and readies his standard issue Baretta M9.

"...it's time we show this young #$%$^ how it's done!"

"You're joining!?" Steve blinks.

" $&! yeah, I'm joinin'!"

"Mind if I..cut in?" That razor sharp voice can only come from one person. Creeping out the shadows, a familar pair of white eyes show up. Logan, another ageless World War II veteran, joins the reunion. Logan was in the ranks. Xyta looked at him with pure gratitude before giving him his own special smile..

Steve smiles at Fury, Logan, then turns to Xyta. He takes her hand and squeezes.

"You ready to fight with this tired, old man?"

A smile was all she could give him before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly, tears of joy falling onto his bare skin. She didn't care about his age, or his condition, or anything that there was to be concerned with. She whispered softly into his ear.

"I'm ready for everything."

Captain America is just an avatar. The man who had been protecting the ideals, such as Freedom and Justice, had been right here, all along, fighting like it's still the 1940s. This is their story. The tale of elder brothers with arms, finding love on the battlefield!

"Hey..." Logan sniffs.

"Somethin' smells like a bed o' roses ovah here!"

Steve blushes and looks away. Smirking, Xyta gave Logan a grin.

"Oh really? What does that smell like to you?" She asked before looking back into Steve's eyes, laughing.

"I don't think it smells half bad."


	6. Nightmares Change You

The weeks went by. Xyta's acculturation to the modern day world was a slow process, but it was progressing. With the help of Maria Hill and a few other female agents that Xyta had begrudgingly befriended, she had learned of many amazing things that women in this society enjoyed, including cosmetics and yoga pants. Xyta had particularly grown fond of the food here, her personal favorite being any Italian pasta dish. She often wondered what she had been missing through her time in her jungle isolation, and here was her chance to experience it all. She avoided the zoo at all costs, knowing she'd face her permanent banishment from mankind if she set the poor captivated beasts free from what she called their "imprisonment." Steve had assured her countless times that the animals were cared for and that they were safe from harm. Xyta trusted him, so she went with it.

Her relationship with the soldier thickened in their time together. Steve would take her to Brooklyn, where she would see the life he once lived, and Xyta would take him hiking through the deepest reaches of Central Park, show him how to be connected with nature. Sometimes they'd meander Central Square, or hold hands down 5th Avenue. If they weren't battling evil or debriefing with Fury, they were together. They d had become companions, lovers, and mates. Xyta didn't think she'd ever find this kind of happiness, the joy that followed being with someone she'd learn to love. For years, she had nursed a bitterness towards all people, vowing to only hate that kind and harness her power and energy for the creatures of the world. That was Africa. This was New York City. The world was bigger than her jungle island, and her short sightedness had blocked her from experiencing such wonderful things.

But as wonderful as being with Steve and witnessing a whole new world was, it wasn't all frolics and roses. Xyta found herself having multiple struggles with… well, fitting in. Training in the gyms at S.H.E.I.L.D, Stark Tower, or the Avenger Mansion was a liability, with the equipment she'd accidentally break, or the occasional agent she'd unintentionally punch across the room. It was still hard controlling her power, especially after over a decade of never needing to restrain it. Now, the smallest thing could get her in trouble. It was festering inside of her, and it was harder to control by the day. Only being with Steve could hush the spirits of the beasts that lived in her., when she was with him. Such was the essence of Xyta's ability, the souls of her Guardian ancestors protesting against the control. It only worsened, but Xyta refused to say anything to Steve, as not to worry him. It was the last thing he needed. It wasn't as festered when missions were more common. But they had dwindled down to near extinction. The smallest issue could be solved by a single blast from Iron Man's suit, and the rest of the team was off the hook. The plans for the current mission on KwaZulu-Natal were still underway, information scarcer than usual, even with Stark's impeccable security hacking skills. Steve and his newly found lover stayed in the shadows when it came to those certain matters. They went to where they needed to, and executed the plans needed.

His condition was improving dramatically, the soldier now being able to perform the actions and abilities of his post-serum days. He was once again the fearless leader of the Avengers, fully functional and cleansed of the poison. Hill and Fury's theories were proven wrong by Xyta's love. And her knack of connecting with the natural world and spirits that were able to slowly heal him. With something that made up a person's entire genetic material, it took time. But such rituals needed to be performed frequently, otherwise the effect the serum was having on Steve's body could return. Xyta's healing kept the poison at bay, but wasn't able to fully vanquish it. Even she had limits to her power. Without her, Steve would surely be weakened again. The sex helped too.

With the lack of missions and her inner beasts screaming to get out, Xyta had begun to find herself slowly becoming aggravated, close to snapping in anger at the smallest things. If they were in the kitchen of the mansion, and she'd find her favorite box of cereal gone, with Clint Barton eating the last of it, she found an overwhelming desire to rip his head from his body. Or if Tony would make a snide comment about Steve (as he was wont to do), the Amazon found herself on an edge of clawing the billionare to shreds. But she'd hold back, only bottling up more of the frustration. Aggressive intimacy with her hardy Captain would ease some of that pain, but it would leave an achy chasm that anxiety would only fill. She had been able to hide it for a good amount of time, what with Steve being the savior to the anger and all, but it was getting to the point where even Steve noticed a oddity in her behavior. Of course, he and everyone else she associated with would expect her to act animal-like, but her behavior had been so normal that nobody had really thought about it, until now. Her eyes would transition from bright blue to almost gold, and her teeth would start to enlongate. It sometimes seemed as if she was being possessed by an animal spirit, but she'd shake it off before it could take full effect. Steve figured it was just a deprivation from her recent way of life, and he's try to ease her through it through their usual rough training and lovemaking. It seemed to work… for now.

It was a quiet night in NYC, and the newest couple of the superhero band cuddled together in their now shared room, naked under their bed sheets and fast asleep. A light breeze blew inside their open balcony window and the night was peaceful. But in the unconscious mind of Xyta Albrooke, things were anything but peaceful.

Her jungle, her beautiful, beautiful jungle was on fire. KwaZulu-Natal was falling in blazing glory all around her. She ran through, avoiding the falling tress and the flaming bushes, dodging around them as she helplessly tried to cease the flames. But it was in vain, as she neared to one of the most sacred groves in the world. She halted dead in her tracks as she witnessed the scene before her, her eyes widening in horror.

Steve was kneeling on the ground, his hands tied behind his back and his shield a good distance away from him, laying upright towards her. The shield was spattered in dirt and blood- Steve's blood. She saw her Captain in his signature uniform, all tattered and stained in sweat, mud, and blood. His hair was messed and his face was coated with everything his uniform was. He was hurting, weakened and in pain. Above him was a dark figure, dressed in dark blue and holding a starless shield all too similar to her lover's. The face was masked, and it looked up to her. She couldn't see the face, but she could sense an evil smile. It spoke to her.

"Pathetic. This is what happens when you let your guard down. This is what happens when _love_ gets in your way-" spoke the figure, raising his leg to kick Steve in the back, sending Steve crying in pain to the ground, on his side. Xyta dashed towards her love, extending her hands, but an invisible barrier blocked her from going to him. She punched the barrier with all her strength, crying out her Captain's name, but he did not hear her. The masked figure unsheathed a long, teethed blade that was hanging at his side, that evil smile still etched on his unseen face. He raised his blade, looking down to Steve, whose eyes were closed tightly in pain, his wounds great and gashed. Xyta roared, she screamed, she thrashed, she clawed. She did anything she could to remove this cursed blockade from rescuing the only one she loved. But it was futile. She was helpless.

"Steve! NO!"

The figure turned to look at her, shaking his head.

"Your love… will be his downfall."

And Steve's head was rolling across the burning forest floor.

"NO!"

The Amazon awoke violently, sitting up in the bed, her unruly hair sticking to her glistening forehead. She was breathing in and out heavily, her vision clearing back into the bedroom, where she was now. It had been a dream. She looked around quickly, sighing in relief as she saw Steve laying at her side, alive… and well awake. His eyes were sleepy and his expression was worried. He sat up next to her, pulling her in to his embrace. Xyta went limp and allowed herself to be wrapped in Steve's arms, a few tears escaping her eyes as she registered back to reality. Nightmares rarely plagued her, but when they did…

"It's alright, honey… I've got you…" whispered Steve softly as he rocked her side to side, trying to comfort the distressed Amazon. When she was able to think clearer and breathe normally, Steve let her go and leaned back to look into her eyes. He brushed some of her hair out of her face to look at her, worry stretched across his features.

"It was just a dream, love… I'm here now, and I won't ever leave you…" he whispered, cradling her face. Xyta continued to look into his eyes, scared for him. She knew many things he did not. Xyta rarely ever dreamed, but when she did, it was more so a premonition than nightmare had been the most intense she had ever had, and she needed to reflect on the dream, figure it out. In a flurry, she had leapt from the bed and dashed towards the now shut balcony window. Steve had closed it when Xyta had begun to scream, as to not wake anyone else in New York. Confused, Steve rolled out of the bed and sat on his side, about to get up, when Xyta raised a hand to tell him stop.

"It's alright, Steve. I'll be fine. I… I need time to think this through. I'll return before daybreak."

She didn't even recognize the fact that she was completely naked. She softly opened both of the doors, running out the balcony and jumping over the edge, shifting into her favorite fowl form: a sleek black peregrine falcon accented with blue eyes. Her blue eyes. She flew far into the distance, Steve watching her fly off. He was still worried sick about her, but had to accept that she was confused and scared, needing her time alone to figure out what had been eating at her. Her behavior had been so obscure recently, like she was trying too hard to hold something back. Her temper was shorter than usual, but he should have expected that.

Slowly, he climbed back into the bed, putting his hands behind his head as he tried to relax. He tried to keep telling himself that she was alright, or would be. He felt helpless, letting her take off like that without having found a solution with her. Such were the worries of a concerned boyfriend.


End file.
